The Vespidae are a large (nearly 5000 species), diverse, cosmopolitan family of wasps, including nearly all the known eusocial wasps (such as Polistes fuscatus, Polistes annularis, and Vespula germanica) and many solitary wasps. Each social wasp colony includes a queen and a number of female workers with varying degrees of sterility relative to the queen. In temperate social species, colonies usually only last one year, dying at the onset of winter. New queens and males (drones) are produced towards the end of the summer, and after mating, the queens hibernate over winter in cracks or other sheltered locations. The nests of most species are constructed out of mud, but polistines and vespines use plant fibers, chewed to form a sort of paper (also true of some stenogastrines). Many species are pollen vectors contributing to the pollination of several plants, being potential or even effective pollinators, while others are notable predators of pest insect species.
The subfamilies Polistinae and Vespinae are composed solely of eusocial species, while Eumeninae, Euparagiinae, and Masarinae are all solitary; the Stenogastrinae subfamily contains a variety of forms from solitary to social.
In Polistinae and Vespinae, rather than consuming prey directly, prey are masticated and fed to the larvae, and in return, produce a clear liquid (with high amino acid content) which the adults consume; the exact amino acid composition varies considerably among species, but it is considered to contribute substantially to adult nutrition.
Median wasp nest
Vespa tropica from India
Dolichovespula media (a European tree wasp) stripping wood from a fence for use in nest construction
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- Evolutionary history of social behavior in Vespids
- Stunning photographs of Vespidae (and other insects) in flight
- Vespidae: Potter wasps; vespid wasps; social wasps; hornets; paper wasps; yellowjackets
- Pickett, Kurt M., and John W. Wenzel (2004). Phylogenetic Analysis of the New World Polistes (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae) Using Morphology and Molecules. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 77(4):742-60.
- Sühs, R.B.; Somavilla, A.; Putzke, J.; Köhler, A. (2009). Pollen vector wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) of Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Anacardiaceae), Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biosciences 7(2):138-143. Link: http://www.ufrgs.br/seerbio/ojs/index.php/rbb/article/view/1123
- Hunt, J. H.; I. Baker; and H. G. Baker. (1982). Similarity of amino acids in nectar and larval saliva: the nutritional basis for trophallaxis in social wasps. Evolution 36: 1318-1322