The Vespidae are a large, diverse, cosmopolitan family of wasps, including nearly all the known eusocial wasps 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 last only 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. 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.
Wasps of the cosmopolitan genus Polistes are the most familiar of the polistine wasps, and are the most common type of paper wasp in North America. Walter Ebeling coined the vernacular name "umbrella wasps" for this genus in 1975 to distinguish it from other types of paper wasp, in reference to the form of their nests. It is also the single largest genus within the family Vespidae, with over 300 recognized species and subspecies. Their innate preferences for nest-building sites leads them to commonly build nests on human habitation, where they can be very unwelcome; although generally not aggressive, they can be provoked into defending their nests. All species are predatory, and they may consume large numbers of caterpillars, in which respect they are generally considered beneficial. The European paper wasp, Polistes dominula, was introduced into the US about 1981 and has quickly spread throughout most of the country, in most cases replacing native species within a few years. This species is very commonly mistaken for a yellow jacket, as it is black, strongly marked with yellow, and quite different from the native North American species of Polistes. The cuckoo wasp, Polistes semenowi, is an obligate social parasite, whose only host is P. dominula. Polistes metricus adults malaxate their insect prey by chewing them into a pulp, sucking out and ingesting the body fluids, then feeding the rest of the morsel to their larvae. The most widely distributed South American wasp species, Polistes versicolor, is particularly common in the southeastern Brazilian states. This social wasp is commonly referred to as the yellow paper wasp due to the distinct yellow bands found on its thorax and abdomen. Polistes wasps can be identified by their characteristic flight; their long legs dangle below their bodies, which are also more slender than a yellow jacket.
The European paper wasp is one of the most common and well-known species of social wasps in the genus Polistes. Its diet is more diverse than those of most Polistes species—many genera of insects versus mainly caterpillars in other Polistes—giving it superior survivability compared to other wasp species during a shortage of resources.
Polistes metricus is a wasp native to North America. In the United States, it ranges throughout the southern Midwest, the South, and as far northeast as New York, but has recently been spotted in southwest Ontario. A single female specimen has also been reported from Dryden, Maine. Polistes metricus is dark colored, with yellow tarsi and black tibia. Nests of Polistes metricus can be found attached to the sides of buildings, trees, and shrubbery.
Polistes fuscatus, whose common name is the dark or northern paper wasp, is widely found in eastern North America, from southern Canada through the southern United States. It often nests around human development. However, it greatly prefers areas in which wood is readily available for use as nest material, therefore they are also found near and in woodlands and savannas. P. fuscatus is a social wasp that is part of a complex society based around a single dominant foundress along with other cofoundresses and a dominance hierarchy.
Pseudodynerus quadrisectus is a species of solitary mason wasp in the genus Pseudodynerus and family Vespidae, first described by Thomas Say in 1837. It includes the subspecies P. q aztecus.
Polistes carolina is one of two species of red paper wasp found in the eastern United States and is noted for the finer ridges on its propodeum. It is a social wasp in the family Vespidae. They are native to the United States from Texas to Florida, north to New York, and west to Nebraska. The wasp's common name is due to the reddish-brown color of its head and body. P. carolina prefer to build their nests in protected spaces.
Dolichovespula arenaria, also known as the common aerial yellowjacket, sandhills hornet, and common yellow hornet, is a species of wasp within the genus Dolichovespula widely distributed in the North American continent.
Polistes dorsalis is a species of social wasps that can be found throughout various parts of North America. It is classified under the Vespidae within the genus of Polistes. Male Polistes dorsalis wasps can be distinguished from other Polistes species by their distinctly prominent median tubercle of sternum 7. Both sexes can also be recognized due to their v- shaped yellow markings on their head. They are distributed widely across North America and can be found in sheltered nests, typically closer to the ground. These wasps live in a dominance hierarchy in which the queen's role differs from that of ordinary workers. When threatened, these wasps can deliver moderately painful stings. Their venom might also be of human interest for their antimicrobial uses.
Polistes parametricus is a species of paper wasp described in 2012. It was previously recognized as belonging in P. fuscatus-group. It is listed in the Identification Atlas of the Vespidae of the Northeastern Nearctic Region as "species B". And in the NCBI Taxonomy as Polistes sp. Buck2.
Euodynerus annulatus is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.
Leptochilus acolhuus is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.
Pachodynerus erynnis, known generally as the red-marked pachodynerus or red and black mason wasp, is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.
Parancistrocerus fulvipes also known by the common name potter wasp is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae. This species' nesting sites include borings in wood, old mud dauber and Polistes nests, and abandoned burrows of ground-nesting bees, but it may also construct its own burrows in the ground. Prey includes caterpillars of Tortricidae, Nolidae, Chloephorinae, Crambidae, and Gelechiidae.
Parancistrocerus histrio is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.
Polistes aurifer, the golden paper wasp, is a species of paper wasp in the genus Polistes of the family Vespidae. It occurs in the western part of North America, from southern Canada through the United States to northern Mexico.
Polistes flavus, also known as the yellow paper wasp, is a species of paper wasp in the family Vespidae.
Pseudomasaris vespoides is a species of pollen wasp in the family Vespidae.
Vespula vidua, known generally as the long yellowjacket or widow yellowjacket, is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.
Polistes rubiginosus is one of two species of red paper wasp found in the eastern United States and is noted for the coarser ridges on its propodeum. It is a social wasp in the family Vespidae. Until taxonomic revision by Matthias Buck in 2012, P. rubiginosus was long known under the name P. perplexus. It occurs northernmost from Maryland, Pennsylvania to northern Ohio, south to Florida, and from there west to central Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona.
