Paper Wasps
RELATED CONTENT
The creatures most of us think of when we think "wasp" are
the social, or paper, wasps: the hornets, yellow jackets
and other species that build oval, papery nests in which
hundreds or even thousands of individual insects live and
work cooperatively, much like bees in a hive.
If you're ever at a gathering of entomologists and the
party gets dull, ask someone in a loud voice what the
differences are between hornets and yellow jackets (species
of the genus Vespula ). Confusion reigns over the
distinctions between members of the two groups—to the
point where the names are used interchangeably. For the
sake of discussion, some naturalists have settled on the
essentially arbitrary distinction that yellow jackets build
their nests underground or concealed in walls, while
hornets (which some scientists assign to a more specialized
genus, Dolichovespula ) build pear-shaped, aerial
nests suspended above ground. It's as good a compromise as
any, though in actual fact the wasps seem not to have the
distinction down either, and sometimes build in the "wrong"
place. Still, the general rule is hornets above, yellow
jackets beneath.
The most common hornets in North America are the bald-faced
hornet ( Vespula maculata ) and the sandhill
hornet ( Vespula arenaria ). Maculata is
a large (one to one-and-a-half inches long), black species
with a distinctive white pattern on its face and body.
Arenaria is somewhat smaller (about an inch long)
and less widely distributed, and has yellow and black
stripes (it's often called a yellow jacket). Both types
generally build their characteristic globular paper nests
in the open, in bushes, trees and on buildings. The
bald-faced hornet's nest can become the size of a bushel
basket, and the sandhill's may reach the proportions of a
soccer ball. The larger the nest, the more aggressively
they defend it (this is true of all paper wasps).
Separate yellow jacket species are almost impossible to
identify by appearance—they're all about one-half to
one inch long, and are yellow-and-black striped—but
their nesting habits are distinct. The eastern yellow
jacket ( Vespula maculifrons ) and the western
yellow jacket ( V. pennsylvanica ) build nests in
the ground, often in the abandoned burrows of moles or
other animals, or at ground level in brush piles or hollow
logs.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 | 3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Next >>
