Stats

Lifespan: Up to 1 yr
Size: Medium
Diet: Omnivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Colony
Biome: Temperate woodland
Range: North America
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Venom
Status: Common

About

Northern Paper Wasps build open-celled nests from chewed plant fibers mixed with saliva, giving the structure its characteristic papery texture. Remarkably, they are one of the few insects known to recognize individual faces within their colony.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
2.
juvenile
An immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
3.
subadult
A near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
4.
adult
Fully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae
Genus: Polistes
Species: Polistes fuscatus