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European paper wasp,Vespa comum

Polistes dominula

Description:

Nests are begun by overwintered founding queens or foundresses, which spend about a month in the spring constructing a nest and provisioning offspring, the first of which will become daughter workers in the growing colony. Males are produced later, and when they start to appear, a few daughters may mate and leave their nest, to become foundresses the next season. The switch from production of workers to production of future foundresses (gynes) is not utterly abrupt, as has been considered the case for other species of Polistes. The colony disperses in the late summer, with only males and future foundresses produced instead of workers, and individuals frequently cluster in groups (called a hibernaculum) to over-winter. Hibernation does not usually take place on former nest sites spotted in a weet meadow near my house ,i think is paper wasp but i'am not sure

Habitat:

The native range of P. dominula covers much of southern Europe and North Africa, and temperate parts of Asia as far east as China.[6] It has also been introduced to Australia, New Zealand and North and South America. This species was introduced into the United States in 1968 in the New Jersey Pine Barrens and spread throughout most of the country during the 1980s and 90s, in some cases partially replacing native species.[citation needed] Another introduction was discovered in the late 1970s in Cambridge, Newton and Somerville, Massachusetts. The first wave consisted of solitary-founding but socially-nesting individuals, then a wave of social founders (several females found a new nest together). In warmer regions, there have been reports of "supercolonizers" most of whom enlarge their natal nests in successive years, rather than dispersing.[citation needed] In the United States, P. dominula nests earlier in the spring, in a wider variety of nest sites, and feeds on a larger variety of insects than native species, which feed almost exclusively on caterpillars.[citation needed] Most entomologists consider it to be an invasive species. This wasp can be mistaken for a yellowjacket, as it is black strongly marked with yellow, in a pattern very reminiscent of a yellowjacket, and quite different from the native North American species of Polistes.

1 Species ID Suggestions

MrsPbio
MrsPbio 11 years ago
European Paper Wasp?
Polistes dominula European Paper Wasp | Project Noah


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2 Comments

Thanks KarenPuracan for the id

MrsPbio
MrsPbio 11 years ago

Not 100% sure of the exact ID, but it's definitely a Vespid, and I tend to agree with the Paper Wasp "gizz" of the thing. A beauty, for sure. (I love wasps...)

Braga, Portugal

Spotted on Aug 23, 2012
Submitted on Sep 16, 2012

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