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Wasps that construct
nests made of a papery material are commonly called paper wasps. The
nests consist of a single upside-down layer of brood cells. There
are 22 species of paper wasps in North America and about 700 species
world-wide. Most are resident in the tropics of the western
hemisphere. The two most common paper wasps in the American midwest
are Polistes dominulus, an introduced species, and Poliste fuscatus,
the native "golden paper wasp." It is my opinion, after 5 years of
careful field work and observance, that dominulus is replacing
fuscatus, at least in the environs of DuPage County, Illinois.
Most paper wasps measure about 2 cm (0.75 in) long and are black,
brown, or reddish in color with yellow markings. Paper wasps will
defend their nest if attacked. Adults forage for nectar, their
source of energy, and for caterpillars to feed the larvae (young).
They are natural enemies of many garden insect pests.
A female paper wasp works on a nest
attached to the fan of Florida palmetto.
The small nests of paper wasps, built of
a fast-hardening mass of chewed-up wood
pulp
and saliva by a team of several females,
consist of a single, circular comb with
uncovered hexagonal cells. In paper wasp
society, the female who began the
nest-building
dominates her workmates once the comb is
completed. She will eat their eggs, and
after they have tended the first
generation of her larvae, they will be
driven away.
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The nests of most species are suspended
from a single, central stalk, or
pedicle, and have the shape of an
upside-down umbrella. Some tropical
species make nests that hang in a
vertical sheet of cells. Plant and wood
fibers are collected by the wasps, mixed
with saliva, and chewed into a
paper-like material that is formed into
the thin cells of the nest. The nests
are constructed in protected places,
such as under the eaves of buildings or
in dense vegetation.
The colony is founded in early spring, soon after the queens emerge
from hibernation. As the colony matures, males and the next year's
queens are produced. These queens mate with males and are the only
members of the colony to survive through winter. In late summer or
fall, the founding queen, workers (sterile females), and males all
die. The newly mated queens hibernate, in piles of wood, in
vegetation, or in holes. The following spring they emerge and begin
the cycle anew. A similar life cycle is found in bumble bees.
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