The Social Wasps

Social wasps (yellow jackets, hornets, and paper wasps) live in colonies. A colony of yellow jackets or hornets is begun by a single fertilized female. A colony of paper wasps is typically begun by several fertilized females.

A fertilized female yellow jacket or hornet begins a colony by making a few cells and laying an egg in each. Larvae hatch from the eggs in about a week and are fed by the queen for about two weeks. Each larva then spins a cocoon around itself, becoming a pupa. In about 10 days, adult workers emerge from the cocoons. The workers are sterile females that care for additional eggs laid by the queen, feed the larvae, and maintain and defend the nest. The larvae are fed chewed-up insects and spiders. Adults feed on nectar, honey-dew, and fruit.

Eggs, larvae, and workers are produced throughout the spring and summer in temperate areas. At the end of summer, males develop from unfertilized eggs, and fertile females develop from larvae fed more food than earlier larvae were fed. After mating, the females hibernate in soil, leaf litter, or protected crevices. They are the only members of the colony to survive the winter; in the following spring, they establish new colonies. In tropical areas, nesting continues throughout the year.

Nests of yellow jackets and hornets are rounded paper structures containing several layers of cells. Yellow jackets usually build their nests in holes in the ground. Most hornets build their nests aboveground. The bald-faced, or white-faced, hornet commonly suspends its nest from a tree branch or under a bridge. The giant, or brown, hornet builds its nest in a hollow tree or in some other sheltered place.

A yellow jacket—a type of small wasp with black and yellow markings—usually feeds on nectar and fruits. And, like paper wasps, yellow jackets chew meats and feed the paste to their larvae. Yellow jackets also engage in mutual feeding. When they feed the larvae, the larvae produce a drop of saliva for the adult wasps to eat.

Some species of yellow jackets feed on dead animal matter. These wasps are often uninvited guests at picnics. They have come to feed on the sweet fruit and soda and the sandwich meat.

Yellow jackets belong to the same family of wasps as hornets. Both kinds of wasps build paper nests. Most yellow jackets nest underground or in places like hollow walls. Most hornet nests hang in bushes or trees. Both kinds of wasps are very protective of their nests. If anyone disturbs the nest, worker wasps will sting over and over again!

Of the several fertilized female paper wasps that start a colony, one will become the dominant queen, the female that lays all or most of the colony's eggs. The dominant queen sometimes destroys eggs laid by the other females. Larvae are raised much like those of yellow jackets and hornets. The nest of paper wasps is typically a single disc-shaped layer of cells that are open at the bottom. The nest is suspended by a short paper stem under an eave or in some other sheltered area.

Paper wasps live in paper nests, of course! These slender, reddish-brown social insects are incredible architects. Their nests usually hang from a tree or a porch. The openings face downward to keep out the rain.

Paper wasps make their own building materials. Female wasps chew up plant parts or old wood. They mix this with saliva to make thin paperlike layers. The wasps then paste the paper together to make the open cells of the nest. The wasps lay their eggs in these cells.

Paper wasps capture caterpillars and other insects. They chew up the meat of these animals to make food paste that they feed to their young larvae. Adult wasps feed themselves flower nectar.