Hobbies And Interests
Color and Body Shape
Wasps differ from bees in that their hind abdomen is more pointy at the end. Wasps also have a narrowing at the junction between the upper and lower abdomen that bees do not have. Wasps closely resemble ants, to which they are related. Most wasps have relatively large wings, but some species, such as female red wasps, remain flightless. Wasps range from less than an inch to more than an inch long. Wasps are commonly black and yellow. Some wasps, such as the bald-faced hornet, are black or black with white; others are brown, yellow, red or orange. The tarantula hawk wasp is blue and orange.
Social Behavior
There are two main groups of wasps: solitary and social. Social wasps, such as yellow jackets, live with a large colony. They build their nests from paper or mud. Solitary wasps live by themselves, as their name implies, and do join colonies. Almost all social wasp species die in late fall, with the exception of the queen wasps, who mate in the fall, then lay eggs in the spring to start a new colony. Solitary wasps tend to die in winter. All of the wasps of these species mate, then lay their eggs in nests or burrows. The eggs remain in safety through winter before hatching in spring.
Diet
Diet varies among species. Wasps are considered omnivorous, although many are carnivorous. Some wasps are named for the insects they eat, such as the cicada killer wasp and spider wasp. Other wasps eat insects such as caterpillars or grasshoppers, or various plants. Although they are often considered stinging pests, many wasps eat garden pests, such as aphids and grasshoppers.
Sting
For most of the year, all of the social wasps living in nests are females. Males are only born during the fall, and live only long enough to mate. It is only the female wasp that has a stinger. These social female wasps can sting repeatedly, as a defense. Solitary wasps can also sting repeatedly, but they only use their stingers to kill prey. Solitary wasps almost never sting people.