Paper Wasp

Paper wasps should not be confused with yellowjackets and baldfaced hornets . Paper wasp nests are open and cells are not covered with a cap.

Life Cycle

Paper wasps are semi-social insects and colonies contain three castes: workers, queens and males. Fertilized queens, which appear similar to workers, overwinter in protected habitats such as cracks and crevices in structures or under tree bark. In the spring they select a nesting site and begin to build a nest. Eggs are laid singly in cells and hatch into legless grub-like larvae that develop through several stages (instars) before pupating. Cells remain open until developing larvae pupate. Sterile worker wasps assist in building the nest, feeding young and defending the nest. A mature paper wasp nest may have 20 to 30 adults. In late summer, queens stop laying eggs and the colony soon begins to decline. In the fall, mated female offspring of the queen seek overwintering sites. The remainder of the colony does not survive the winter.

Habitat, Food Source(s), Damage

Mouthparts are for chewing. Nests are built from wood fiber collected from posts and occasionally from live plant stems, causing some plant damage. This fiber is chewed and formed into a single paper-like comb of hexagonal cells. Nests are oriented downward and are suspended by a single filament. Mature nests contain up to 200 cells. Paper wasps prey on insects such as caterpillars, flies and beetle larvae which they feed to larvae. They actively forage during the day and all colony members rest on the nest at night.

Wasps can be found on flowers, particularly from goldenrod in late fall. Paper wasp nests can be dislodged from eaves using sprays of high pressure water from a good distance, taking precautions not to allow wasps to attack nearby people or pets. Wasps will eventually abandon the nest.

Pest Status

Nests commonly occur around the home underneath eaves, in or on structures and plants; wasps attack when the nest is disturbed and each can sting repeatedly; stings typically cause localized pain and swelling, but in sensitive individuals or when many stings occur (as with most arthropod stings) whole body (systemic) effects can occur including allergic reactions that may result in death; males are incapable of stinging because the stinger on the females is a modified egg-laying structure  and it is not present in males; wasps feed on insects, including caterpillar pests, and thus are considered to be beneficial insects by many gardeners.

Mud Dauber

Description

Adult mud daubers are 3/4 to 1 inch long wasps, varying in color by species from dull black to black with bright yellow markings to iridescent blue-black. The best identifying feature is the longer, narrow "waist" (petiole - the section between the thorax and abdomen).

Life Cycle

These are solitary wasp species, with nests constructed and provisioned by individual mated females. Eggs of mud daubers are laid singly on hosts in cells in mud nests provisioned with food, sealed and abandoned. Larvae grow up to 1 inch long and are cream-colored, legless and maggot-like. They pupate in cocoons within the cells and overwinter in nests. There can be several generations annually.

Habitat, Food Source(s), Damage

Mud daubers  build small nests of mud under overhangs like eaves of buildings. The pipe organ mud dauber, Trypoxylon politum mud nests of long parallel tubes and provision their nests with spiders. The black and yellow mud dauber, Sceliphron caementarium ,constructs a globular nest containing one cell to several cells, also provisioned with paralyzed spiders. Adults are commonly seen in wet spots, balls of mud for building their nests. The iridescent blue mud dauber, Chalybion californicum , takes over nests of the black and yellow mud dauber. It provisions its nest mostly with black widow spiders.

Pest Status

Mud daubers  and potter or mason wasps are solitary wasp species; although capable of stinging, they are rarely aggressive. Mud dauber nests can be a nuisance in garages, under eaves and in other buildings.

Southern YellowJacket

Description

Workers are about 1/2 inch long, with clear wings. The body is black with yellow characteristic markings on the head, thorax and abdomen. The body is not hairy.

Other common Texas "wasps" include: the eastern yellowjacket, Vespula maculifrons (Buysson) (generally found in eastern Texas), paper wasps (such as Polistes carolina), hornets (such as the baldfaced hornet, Dolichovespula maculata), the cicada killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus), and mud daubers (such as Chalybion californicus).

Life Cycle

The colony is initiated by a single queen that survived the winter. The queen is very large and predominately orange, differing from the worker and male wasps in a colony. After feeding on nectar and arthropods in early spring, the queen's ovaries develop and she seeks a nesting site. There she constructs a nest of 20 to 45 cells and produces eggs that hatch into larvae. The queen feeds these larvae nectar and arthropod prey and in about 30 days the first worker wasps emerge from the pupal stage. After the number of worker wasps increase, the queen no longer leaves the nest. Colonies can contain up to 4,000 workers. Late in the summer, workers construct larger reproductive cells in which male and female wasps are produced. After they emerge, they leave the nest, mate. Thereafter, queens seek hibernation sites while males swarm in high numbers over hilltops and vegetation.

Habitat, Food Source(s), Damage

 Mouthparts are for chewing. Colonies, constructed out of chewed vegetable fiber that forms paper carton, occur in disturbed habitats such as yards and roadsides. Nests are most often underground, but occasionally are found in wall voids and indoors. In Texas, some colonies can survive for several years and continue to grow. Colonies in Texas and other southern states have been reported that are 6 ft across. In exposed and underground sites, nests are spherical and consists of a number of round combs, attached one below another, and surrounded by a many-layered outer cover. Worker wasps leave the nest and seek protein sources such as live insects and animal carcasses, foraging around picnic tables, garbage cans and other locations. They do not make nor store honey.

Pest Status

Venomous, stinging social insect, that is abundant in urban areas; when nests are disturbed, defending worker wasps can inflict multiple stings; foraging worker wasps may be a nuisance at picnics and other outdoor events.