According to Ecological Entomology, wasps are disliked by almost everyone. People universally dislike wasps largely because they can sting people, and many of us are allergic to their painful stings.
The venom released from wasps can sometimes be deadly. This means that just one sting from a wasp while you’re asleep can be enough to kill you. For example, unwittingly rolling onto a wasp.
For these reasons, most people do what they can to avoid getting near wasps. However, some people aren’t bothered by wasps and can sleep with a wasp in their bedroom.
No matter which category you fall into, sleeping with a wasp in your room is a bad idea.
Why is There a Wasp in My Room at Night?
Wasps are usually more active during the day than at night. You may observe a wasp flying around at night, but it’s usually because it’s tending to its nest or foraging for food.
According to Entomology – Insect Biology and Management, wasps are drawn to light, so you may find them hovering around the porch light or trying to make their way inside the home.
Wasps aren’t on a mission to find and sting you when they enter your bedroom, even if that’s how it seems. They’re just following light to wherever it leads them.
How Did a Wasp Get into My Room?
When all windows and doors are shut, wasps can still find their way inside. Wasps will enter any opening they can find. Due to their relatively small size, they can get in just about anywhere.
A common way wasps enter the home is through vents. You may not even realize how many vents are in your home. They’re often found in areas such as:
- Bathrooms.
- Kitchens.
- Chimneys.
- Basements.
- Attics.
Any gaps around the windows or windowsills and holes and cracks in the walls are entry points for wasps.
No matter where the wasp entered your home, once it’s in, it has free reign over the entire house. Eventually, it may make its way to your bedroom.
You may not notice it until you’ve settled into bed and can hear it buzzing and crashing around.
How Long Will A Wasp Stay in My Room?
Wasps can live in the home for up to a week, sometimes longer, depending on if they can find a food source. You can be sure the wasp will be your roommate for a few days, at the very least.
How long a wasp can live indoors depends mostly on the kind of wasp, if there’s a food source, and whether it can build a nest in the home.
To be safe, if you see a wasp in your room, you might want to check around your bedroom and other rooms for other wasps or a nest.
Wasps build nests inside walls, under beds, attics, and garages. They also build nests in the eaves of homes, roof overhangs, trees, playground equipment, and even barbeque grills.
Is It Safe To Sleep with A Wasp in The Room?
The wasp isn’t likely to sting you unless it feels threatened. If you’re sleeping, the chances are it’ll just fly around the room all night, seeking light sources (like a TV) and occasionally resting.
There’s a chance the wasp could land on your face, body, or bed while you’re sleeping. If you roll over on it, get it twisted in the sheets, or accidentally swat it in your sleep, it’ll sting you, perhaps repeatedly.
If you know you’re not allergic to wasps, you may feel brave enough to let it stay in the room while you sleep and risk being stung.
If you’re allergic to wasps or don’t know if you’re allergic, sleeping in a room with a wasp is ill-advised.
According to the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, & Psychiatry, allergic reactions to wasp stings are usually minor and start within minutes to hours in 76-96% of people stung.
However, there are many reports of delayed reactions after being stung.
If you decide to sleep with a wasp in your bedroom and risk getting stung, especially if you know you’re allergic, you’re taking an unnecessary risk.
How Dangerous Are Wasp Stings?
Allergic reactions aren’t the only complication that can come from getting stung by a wasp. Other potential health problems include the following:
Ischemic Stroke
According to The Journal of Emergency Medicine, a 44-year-old man was stung by a wasp and developed a right middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory ischemic stroke.
He had partial weakness on the left side of his body and face and slurred speech.
Neurological problems like ischemic stroke are rare after a wasp sting but remain possible.
Acute Kidney Injury
Pediatric Nephrology discussed how a 9-year-old boy was stung multiple times by a wasp and developed acute kidney injury (AKI), which evolved into renal failure.
After several sessions of hemodialysis, his renal function returned to normal. The boy didn’t immediately react to the wasp stings, and the AKI didn’t onset until days later.
This type of health complication is unusual but life-threatening.
Paralysis
The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, & Psychiatry recalled how an 18-year-old male developed impaired consciousness and quadriplegia from a wasp sting he’d received on his cheek 16 days earlier.
Over time, his condition improved, but he didn’t fully recover. Three months later, he was discharged from the hospital with residual paraplegia and urinary and fecal incontinence.
Will a Wasp Sting You for No Reason?
Wasps won’t sting for no reason. Have you ever had a wasp fly very close to you, circle you a few times, maybe even land on you and fly away? That wasp had every chance to sting you, but it didn’t.
It didn’t sting you because it didn’t feel threatened by you. You may have been stung if you’d walked over and swatted at the wasp rather than allowing it to come over to you.
Social wasps sting if you get too close because they protect their nests and colonies.
When they sting, they send out a scent that alerts other wasps. When the other wasps smell the scent, they’ll follow it, which is how you could get attacked by many wasps.
Solitary wasps are less aggressive and usually only sting if you swat at them or make them feel unsafe.
Other Reasons Wasps Sting You
Knowing why a wasp might sting you can help you avoid being stung. If nothing else, you can eliminate the things that may attract wasps to you and your home.
End of Summer
Wasps stings happen most near the end of summer.
The queen wasp has probably already moved on to find a place to hibernate for the winter. The wasps in their nest start to die, and no more worker wasps are being produced.
This can throw the remaining wasps in a loop and make them panic because their food sources are diminishing, and there aren’t enough worker wasps to replenish it.
This sends them on a frantic search for other food sources. If you get in their way, you may get stung.
Scents
Wasps have a strong sense of smell. They’re often attracted to sweet, flowery smells but could also be drawn to the scents of cooking or cooked food.
If your doors or windows are open, wasps could invite themselves inside. You may also find wasps near your garbage cans due to the presence of food waste material.
Wasps may also be drawn to the scent of perfume, soap, and lotion.
Threatening Sounds or Movements
Do you recall being told to stand still when a wasp is buzzing in circles around you? That’s because sudden movements and sounds can make a wasp feel threatened enough to sting you.
What To Do With A Wasp in Your Room
You see a wasp flying around your bedroom and want it gone so you can sleep.
Your first thought will probably be to try to kill it, but that can cause a problem. You’re in an enclosed space, and if you try to hit it and miss, it’ll get mad and come after you with its stinger blazing.
If you try to kill it with an insect spray, you’ll be harmed by the fumes. Only use wasp spray as a last resort because you shouldn’t leave the windows open while sleeping.
One thing you can do to get rid of a wasp is to blow it out of the room using a fan, a hair dryer, or some other fast-moving air. Wasps can’t fly easily in strong winds, so they’ll want to get away.
Because winds are a natural force, wasps aren’t threatened by them. Blowing them out of the room is the most effective way of getting rid of wasps without getting stung.
