Stats

Lifespan

A few weeks

Size

Medium

Diet

Omnivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Colony

Biome

Temperate woodland

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Venom

Status

Common

About

Social wasps that build open paper nests with downward-facing hexagonal combs, often tucked beneath eaves or branches. They make the paper themselves, chewing weathered wood fibres into pulp.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
2. 2.
   juvenile

   An immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
3. 3.
   subadult

   A near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →
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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Vespidae

Genus

Polistes