Paper Wasp

Recommended Program Total Home Get a Free Quote Description Queen paper wasps are about 3/4 inch long, and the workers about 1/2” long. Their bodies are slender and often have long legs dangling during flight. Paper wasps have a very distinct narrow waist and appear smooth or hairless. Paper wasps are

typically dark brown, orange or reddish in color, or can be banded with yellow and black (similar to yellow jackets).

Habitat

Nests are built from wood fiber collected from posts and occasionally from live plant stems. This fiber is chewed and formed into a single paper-like comb of hexagonal cells. Nests are oriented downward and are suspended by a single filament. Mature nests contain up to 200 cells. They actively forage during the day and all colony members rest on the nest at night. Paper wasps will hang their comb nests from branches, twigs and shrubs. Most often, if these nests are approached or tampered with, they will sting. You also see nests hung from windows, door frames, eaves, attic rafters, decks, and railings. Overwintering queens will start new nests on almost any structure or small cavity, including trees, rocks, wood, playground equipment, and buildings.

Diet

Paper wasps feed on sweet nectar and other soft-bodied insects.

Life Cycle & Reproduction

Paper wasps are semi-social insects and colonies contain three castes: workers, queens and males. Fertilized queens, which appear similar to workers, overwinter in protected habitats such as cracks and crevices in structures or under tree bark. In the spring they select a nesting site and begin to build a nest. Eggs are laid singly in cells and hatch into legless grub-like larvae that develop through several stages (instars) before pupating. In the fall, mated female offspring of the queen seek overwintering sites. The remainder of the colony does not survive the winter.

Threat

Nests commonly occur around the home underneath eaves, in or on structures and plants. Wasps attack when the nest is disturbed and each can sting repeatedly; stings typically cause localized pain and swelling, but in sensitive individuals or when many stings occur (as with most arthropod stings) whole body (systemic) effects can occur including allergic reactions that may result in death.