Is this page for Albany in Western Australia?

Yes, Albany on WA's south coast. If you're in Albany Creek in Brisbane, see our Albany Creek page instead.

Will a pest business treat a European wasp nest in Albany?

In WA, DPIRD's advice for European wasp nests is to report them and not treat them, and the department deals with the nest. Report it to DPIRD.

Does Albany need termite inspections too?

WA's Building and Energy recommends a termite inspection at least once a year for homes across the state, Albany included, and checking your own place every six months for signs.

Pest control Albany WA: European wasps, mice and more

If you think it's a European wasp nest

Keep well back and keep children and pets away: according to DPIRD, a busy nest that gets disturbed can mean thousands of painful stings. Don't spray it or cover the hole; report it. If someone is stung and has noisy breathing or a swollen tongue or throat, call 000.

What's different in Albany

Half the state's European wasp nests

In the 2025 to 2026 season, 37 of the 73 European wasp nests found and destroyed in Western Australia were in the City of Albany, more than any other area.

When to watch

WA's European wasp trapping season runs from December to May, and DPIRD's surveillance starts again each October. Summer and autumn are when to keep an eye on wasps around food and bins.

What to look for

DPIRD describes the European wasp as bright lemon yellow with black stripes, yellow legs and black antennae, about the size of a honey bee, and easy to confuse with yellow paper wasps. Nests are usually hidden, often in the ground, with wasps using one hole.

How to report

Report it to DPIRD's Pest and Disease Information Service or through the MyPestGuide Reporter app, and the department deals with the nest.

Paper wasps are still a pest job

Not every wasp in Albany is a European wasp. Paper wasps build an open, grey comb shaped like an upside down cone, hanging under eaves, pergolas and branches. They let their back legs dangle in flight, and normally sting only when the nest is disturbed.

A paper wasp nest by a door or a clothesline is an ordinary job for a pest business. If you're not sure which wasp you've got, report it to DPIRD first; our wasp page for Perth has the two side by side.

Mice, rats and ants

In May 2026, WA Health said mice in the Mid West and Southern WA had damaged crops and affected businesses, community facilities and homes. In town, that shows up as droppings in the pantry and scratching in the ceiling, especially as the weather cools.

For ants, DPIRD says coastal brown ant nests show as lines of little holes and soil mounds in lawns and brick paving, and that Argentine ants are the hardest common pest ant to control because they move back into treated ground quickly. Knowing which one you have changes the treatment.

An Albany yard in wasp season

Keep bins lidded and pick up fallen fruit and pet food, which draw scavenging wasps.
Cover drinks and food outside, and check a can before you sip from it.
Watch for a steady stream of wasps going in and out of one hole in the lawn or a wall.
Take a photo from well back and note where it is before you report.

Our take on pests in Albany

In Albany we'd report any yellow and black wasp with a hidden nest straight to DPIRD and leave the pest businesses for paper wasps, mice and ants. For those, tap what you've seen and your postcode.

Want someone to look at it?

Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.

What have you seen?