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Wasps (Vespula vulgaris)
The Common Wasps
This is a Paper Wasp...
There are thousands of species of Vespoid (true) wasps, the actual number is not known. We do know that there is about 800 species of social wasps.
Appearance:
Long body with thin waists.
long legs dangle down while in flight.
Habits:
Search vegetation for prey.
visit flowers for nectar.
less aggressive than yellow jackets.
Nests:
Small multiple-comb nests in shape of upside down umbrella most often attached to eaves of buildings.
This is a European Hornet...
The European Hornet lives throughout most of Europe, but is never found north of the 63rd parallel. It is also found in Asia, the United States and Canada.
Appearance:
Large up to 1-1/4 inches long with a red-brown head and thorax.
Habits:
Will fly at night and are attracted to light.
Eat ripe or near-ripe fruit such as apples, puncturing a hole and hollowing out the fruit.
And will raid domestic honey bee hives.
Nests:
Normally a woodland species which nests in hollow trees. Sometimes nest too close to human-occupied structures such as attics and hollow walls.
This is a Yellow Jacket...
People often mistake bees for yellow jackets because of their colouring, however they are very different. Bees sting once and then die, but wasps can sting repeatedly. Yellow jackets have a shiny black and yellow body and measure 2 to 3/4 inch (12-18 mm) in length. These social insects live in large caste-divided colonies.
Appearance:
Stout body with black and bright yellow markings.
Habits:
Rapid fliers
Aggressive
Capable of inflicting multiple stings and bites
Live in large colonies
Defend nests vigorously.
visit flowers for nectar
General Information
Vespula vulgaris, is a wasp found in much of the Northern Hemisphere, and introduced to Australia and New Zealand. It is a eusocial vespid, which builds its grey paper nest underground, often using an abandoned mammal hole as a start for the site, which is then enlarged by the workers. The foundress queen may also select a hollow tree, wall cavity, or rock crevice for a nest site.
Identification
The common wasp is 17–20 mm long, and has aposematic colours of black and yellow. It is very similar to the German wasp, but seen head on, its face lacks the three black dots characteristic of that species. Portrait of Vespula vulgaris with distinctiv head markings It can also be distinguished by a lack of black dots on its back; these are located further up and form part of the black rings on each of the abdomen's six segments. The Ash Borer (a moth) mimics the common wasp's aposematic colouration.
Common wasps are colloquially known as "jaspers" in southern England and the English Midlands, although it is not clear whether the etymology refers to the Latin name "vespa" or the striped abdomen, which echoes the striped mineral jasper.
Nest and life cycle
The nest is made from chewed wood fibres, mixed with saliva. It has open cells and a petiole attaching the nest to the substrate. The wasps produce a chemical which repels ants and secrete it around the base of this petiole in order to avoid ant predation.
A solitary female queen starts the nest, building 20-30 cells before initial egg-laying. This phase begins in spring, depending on climatic conditions. She fashions a petiole and produces a single cell at the end of it. Six further cells are then added around this to produce the characteristic hexagonal shape of the nest cells. The spherical nest is built up from layers of cells.
Once the larvae have hatched as workers, they take up most of the colony’s foraging, brood care and nest maintenance. A finished nest may contain 5,000–10,000 individuals.
Each wasp colony includes one queen and a number of sterile workers. Colonies usually last only one year, all but the queen dying at the onset of winter. However, in the mild climate of New Zealand and Australia, a few of the colonies survive the winter, although this is much more common with the German wasp. New queens and males (drones) are produced towards the end of the summer, and after mating, the queen overwinters in a hole or other sheltered location, sometimes indoors.
Wasp nests are not reused from one year to the next.
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris), Queen returning to nestThis common and widespread wasp collects insects including caterpillars to feed to its larvae. The adults feed on nectar and sweet fruit. Common wasps will also attempt to invade honey bee nests to steal their honey; the bees attempt to defend their nest by stinging the wasp to death.
Common wasp nests are subject to predation by the Honey Buzzard, which excavates them to obtain the larva. As the wasps have a tendency to build nests near houses, they are not necessarily defensive of their hive and can still be approached and watched without immediate attack.
The hoverfly Volucella pellucens and some of its relatives lay their eggs in a wasp nest and their larvae feed on the wasps’ young and dead adults. Spiders are yet another predator of this and many other species.
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