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LIFECYCLE
Only the queen wasp lays eggs. She lays unfertilized eggs that
become male workers, called drones, and fertilized eggs that become sterile female
workers or queens, depending on the diet they are fed as grubs.
Mating between drones and a queen wasp occurs on sunny days in
October. The queen generally mates with several drones and stores their sperm in her body
until spring.
Soon after mating, the drones and workers die, since food
is scarce. The queen, however, searches for a suit- able place to hibernate for the next 6
to 7 months. When the warmth of the spring sunshine awakens her, she flies off to find a
nest site where she will lay her eggs.
When the grubs hatch, they remain attached to special
cells within the nest and to their egg cases so that they do not fall out of the nest.
Newly hatched wasps emerge from the nest in July and
assume the work of nest building and feeding the grubs from the queen, who continues to
lay eggs. Grubs destined to be queens are fed protein-rich secretions.
Above: In the fall, wasps eat the
sweet pulp of fallen fruit.
Above: The queen chooses her
hibernation site, usually in a shed or greenhouse, and remains there, unconscious, for six
to seven months. She lives on her fat reserves. |
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One of the most feared of
insects, the yellow and black European stinging wasp is beneficial as well: it feeds on
garden pests and the larvae of houseflies.
DEFENSES
Wasps have two forms of defense--their coloration and their sting.
The bright yellow-and-black band of color on their bodies acts as a warning to birds,
lizards, and small mammals. The wasp's stinger consists of a curved, barb-free lance that
can deliver a quick shot of poison into the skin of a predator. (Unlike a bee, the wasp is
able to withdraw the stinger to use it many times. The tree wasp, Dolichovespula
sylvestris, is particularly aggressive.
Above: In spring, the queen starts
laying eggs, sticking them to the roof of each cell in the nest to keep them secure.
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FOOD & FEEDING
In the spring and summer, wasps feed on small insects. Workers
also feed on nectar, as well as on a sweet fluid secreted by the immature wasps, which are
called grubs.
Since wasps do not store food the way bees store
honey, they die from starvation in the fall. As their insect prey becomes increasingly
scarce, wasps are attracted to populated areas where they can scavenge for food. Only the
queen is able to hibernate and live on fat reserves.
KEY FACTS
Length: Queens, 3/4 in. Drones and
workers, 1/2 in.
Coloration: Workers, drones, and queens have the
same yellow and black coloration.
Mouthparts: Biting.
Mating: Fall.
Number of eggs: 300 laid per day.
Hatching time: 4-6 days. Wasps emerge 2-3 weeks
after pupation.
Habit: Lives in colonies.
Diet: Small insects, fruit, and meat juices.
Lifespan: Queens: 10 months; drones and workers:
4 weeks.
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Did You Know?
Wasps never swarm. Virgin queens fly away from teir old colonies in
the fall to mate, hibernate, and establish new colonies in spring.
Wasp colonies may contain as many as 20,000 wasps.
Wasps have distinct facial patterns that help to identify them. The
common wasp has an anchorlike marking.
There is a species of wasp known as the cuckoo wasp that lays its
eggs in the nests of red wasps, which then care for its hatching larvae. |
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