Polistes

Journal of Entomology and Zoology, December 1919.

Notes on the Behavior of the Social Wasp Polistes by Horace Gunthorpe.

This is a LibriVox recording.

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For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. One day last September, the writer picked up a nest of the common social wasp Polistes, which had been detached from its support, and placed it upon his desk.

A short time later he was attracted by a scratching sound, and discovered that one of the wasps was just beginning to cut the cap from its cell preparatory to emerging.

During the next few days a series of observations were made and notes taken covering the behavior of the wasps which emerged from their cells during that period.

61, pp.

Vespa maculata, building on trees and fences, has practically the same habits as the ground wasp Germanica, the internal structure of the nest following the same plan, while the outer wall is of a papery substance like that of the combs, made from the scrapings of weather-beaten wood.

The genus Polistes builds combs similar to that of Vespa, under porches or in any sheltered place, and does not enclose them.

All these wasps, when adult, enjoy fruit and flowers as well as animal food, but only this last is used for the young, and many a caterpillar creeping along with sinister design is snatched by them to be chewed into a pulpy mass and then fed to the larva.

No calculation has been made of the value of these wasps in agriculture, and one of the things that farmers have yet to learn is to encourage their presence in orchards and gardens.

Vespa maculata, building on trees and fences, has practically the same habits as the ground wasp Germanica, the internal structure of the nest following the same plan, while the outer wall is of a papery substance like that of the cones made from the scrapings of weather-beaten wood.

The genus Polistes builds cones similar to that of Vespa under porches or in any sheltered place and does not enclose them.

All these wasps, when adult, enjoy fruit and flowers as well as animal food, but only this last is used for the young, and many a caterpillar creeping along with sinister design is snatched by them to be chewed into a pulpy mass and then fed to the larvae.

No calculation has been made of the value of these wasps in agriculture, and one of the things that farmers have yet to learn is to encourage their presence in orchards and gardens.