Paper wasps are social insects known for their distinctive paper-like nests. While they do have a “queen,” her role and characteristics differ from those of other social insects like honeybees. Understanding this unique social organization reveals how their colonies function.
The Foundress and Dominant Female
Paper wasps establish colonies with a female known as a “foundress,” who functions as the queen. This individual is not born with a distinct physical appearance, unlike the queens of some other social insects; instead, her status is determined by behavior and dominance. A fertilized foundress overwinters in a protected location, emerging in spring to initiate a new nest. She begins building the nest and laying the first eggs.
Her queen status is established through a dominance hierarchy, asserting control over other females, who might be her sisters or unrelated individuals that join the nest. This dominance ensures her reproductive priority. While other female wasps can lay eggs, these are unfertilized and develop into males. The foundress’s ability to lay fertilized eggs, which become female workers, distinguishes her primary reproductive role.
Establishing and Maintaining the Colony
The foundress constructs the nest from chewed wood fiber mixed with saliva, giving it a paper-like appearance. She lays the first eggs in hexagonal cells; these hatch into larvae that she feeds and cares for. Once these offspring mature, they become sterile female workers who take over most daily tasks.
These workers assume responsibilities like foraging for food, expanding the nest, and caring for subsequent broods. This allows the queen to concentrate on egg-laying.
Paper wasp colonies follow an annual cycle. The colony grows throughout spring and summer, with the queen continuously laying eggs and workers maintaining the nest and raising the young. In late summer, the colony produces new reproductive males and females. These new females, potential future foundresses, mate and disperse to find overwintering sites. The original queen, workers, and males die off as winter approaches, and the old nest is not reused.
Distinguishing Paper Wasp Social Behavior
Paper wasp social organization differs from that of other social insects like honeybees. Unlike honeybee queens, paper wasp queens are not larger or morphologically different from workers, making them difficult to identify visually. Their queen status is more fluid and can be challenged; a subordinate female might take over egg-laying if the dominant queen dies. This contrasts with honeybee colonies, which have a single, clearly identifiable queen with a fixed reproductive role.
Paper wasp colonies are smaller and less complex than honeybee colonies, housing 20 to 30 adults, though some reach 200 members. Honeybee colonies, by contrast, can number in the tens of thousands. Paper wasp colonies are annual, with new queens starting fresh colonies each spring. Honeybee colonies are perennial, persisting for multiple years with the queen surviving through winter.