Common Paper Wasp
Polistes exclamans
Common Paper Wasps are slender social wasps of open fields, gardens, woodland edges, and building eaves across much of the south-central and eastern United States. Adults chew plant fibers into papery combs and hunt caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects to feed their larvae, while also drinking nectar and sugary fluids. They defend exposed nests with a painful sting when disturbed, but individual wasps also spend much of the day patrolling flowers, stems, and nest cells. A notable feature is their long dangling legs in flight and variable yellow-and-brown markings, including the exclamation-like pattern that inspired the scientific name.
- Type
- Venom
- Conservation status
- NE
Growth chain
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- Common Paper Wasp
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