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There are several species of this social insect all from the Vespidae family. They are easily recognized by the paper like nest they build to raise their young. But the most distinguishing characteristic of the paper wasp is the way they fold their wings holding them out on the sides when they are resting. These insects are from the Hymenoptera order of bees, wasp and ants. They emerge around mid-spring to build their nest under the eaves of buildings from materials that are collected such as wood pulp or paper materials. The body of the paper wasp is thin and black or dark brown in color with yellow or orange markings on the abdomen area. The nest building process is very interesting to watch. The female will search for fibers from dried wood or paper. Once she has found a source she will return to it repeatedly until the nest is completed. Using her mandibles she will grasp the fibers, peeling off thin strips while moving backwards. She then forms the strip into a ball and carries it back to the nest in her mouth.
Nesting females of this species are called queens and are often seen standing still near water. This behavior is part of the nest building process when the female gathers water to be used for this purpose. She will stand at the edge of a pond, bird bath, puddle or watering can while drinking and then fly back to her nest. It is believed that the water is combined with substances inside the female’s body and then regurgitated to help connect the fibers of the nest. The regurgitated substance is a shiny, semi-waterproof substance that is also used to coat the top of the nest. When the nest is completed the female will lay her eggs, one in each pod of the nest, covering over each cell with a paper like coating. When the eggs hatch she will forage for food to feed the larvae until they are full grown which usually takes about four weeks. Each larvae will remain in its pod and pupate, emerging from the pod as an adult sterile female.
Once the new adult females have emerged, the queen will continue to build the nest and lay eggs while the newly emerged workers help with the building or forage for food to feed the larvae. Occasionally the queen will leave the nest to gather nest materials but all her food is gathered by the workers. By late summer some of the emerging adult paper wasp are fertile males and females. This is when the social order of the hive begins breaking up. The sterile females become idle, no longer helping at the nest and the queen stops laying eggs. This is when the fertile males and female wasp mate with the fertile females becoming queens. These fertilized females or queens will be the only paper wasp to survive through the winter.
Paper wasp, like most wasp, are carnivorous insects that feed on soft bodied larval forms such as butterflies or the caterpillars of moths. Unlike nest building which can bring several paper wasps to a good source, foraging is done alone. This behavior can be observed when you see this wasp drifting slowly over dried leaves or shrubs. Occasionally the wasp will land crawling about over twigs and leaves in search of food. The paper wasp, in most cases is not an aggressive insect, unless something comes too close to their nest. When they are preparing to sting they will fly straight toward the disturbing factor at a very fast speed.
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