MY FASCINATION WITH THE WASP NEST CONTINUES!

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WASPS:

Social wasps are the famous stingers of the insect world. We know them as

hornets, yellowjackets, and paper wasps. They belong to the order Hymenoptera

(which means "membranous wings"). They are closely related to ants and bees, which are also in the same order. Social wasps live together in communities called colonies. A well established colony of Polistine wasps (common paper wasps) can have two hundred or more individuals living on a nest the size of a man's outstretched hand. An underground yellowjacket nest, on the other hand, can be the size of a bushel basket and sometimes larger. A nest of this size can have five thousand or more hot tempered, stinging insects.

Social wasps use paper (wood pulp) to construct their nests. The process is simple... a wasp collects wood fiber by using its mandibles (mouth parts) to scrape it from worn and weathered wooden fences, buildings, telephone poles, and other sources. Sometimes it collects fiber from man-made paper products such as paper bags or cardboard boxes. The insect then chews the wood and mixes it with saliva. This makes the wood fiber extremely soft and moist. After a period of chewing, the wasp adds the paste to the nest structure and spreads it out with her mandibles and legs. After it thoroughly dries; a type of tough, durable paper is formed.

In the United States, social wasps abandon their nests and die in the late fall or early winter when freezing temperatures have set in. Only the young daughter queens which are born (and have mated with the drones) during the present season will hibernate (in attics, basements, tree trunks, etc.) and live through the winter. The queens will begin their new nests in the spring. Old nests are almost never reused. Though there have been unusual cases when yellowjacket colonies have survived mild winters and they reused the same nests year after year. As a result, the colonies and their nests reached tremendous proportions.
Although most people think of wasps as pests, they benefit mankind and the environment in many ways. They help control arthropod pests (flies, caterpillars, bugs, spiders, etc.) by preying on them. This really does help to cut down on the use of harmful pesticides. This is healthier for our environment in the long run. Wasps are also used in research and experiments. In some places in the world, people use the immature stages (larvae and pupae) of wasps as food for a good source of protein. Therefore, the benefits to humans far outweigh the harm which they do.

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