#paper wasps

[razehider]

male paper wasps are famously huge wimps but no individual i've ever encountered captures their essence quite as much as this one pathetically clinging to a plant like a crying baby while looking at me with his huge pleading green eyes after i interrupted his early evening nap

(August 6th, 2025)

[apocrital]

I think there are too many people throwing around that wasps can recognise human faces for something that has only been confirmed in one wasp species (and not even the species people usually seem to bring up)

Northern paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus) have been found to process the faces of other wasps as a whole, rather than just a collection of individual parts. This is called holistic processing, and it's the same way humans typically process each other's faces. This has been tested in a couple of other Polistes species and they did not process faces in the same way. This is very cool for Northern paper wasps! But crucially, processing each others' faces this way does not mean they process human faces the same. Recognising one another aids them due to their specific social dynamics, but recognising humans wouldn't present the same evolutionary pressures. In one study, their holistic processsing didn't even extend to another paper wasp species, but recognition of human faces has not been tested in paper wasps so we can't say one way or the other even if it looks unlikely

However, it has been tested in other species! Common yellowjackets (Vespula vulgaris) and Western honeybees (Apis mellifera) were capable of discriminating between human faces (although they had to be taught to do so as they probably don't do so naturally) and it seems they also have some capacity for holistic processing. Nevertheless, I feel like I see paper wasps brought up more often than yellowjackets when this fact comes up

There's a lot that still needs studying on this topic, and what we do have points to some really interesting hymenopteran abilities that are not found in many other animals, but it does frustrate me seeing these things exaggerated and overgeneralised to all wasps/Hymenoptera and then presented as facts when there simply isn't evidence for that yet. I love wasps and I typically see this brought up to endear people to them, which I respect, but spreading misinformation for a 'good cause' is still unhelpful

References

Tibbetts et al. (2021) 'Individual recognition is associated with holistic face processing in Polistes paper wasps in a species-specific way'

Sheehan and Tibbetts (2011) 'Specialized Face Learning Is Associated with Individual Recognition in Paper Wasps'

Avarguès-Weber et al. (2017) 'Recognition of human face images by the free flying wasp Vespula vulgaris'

Dyer, Neumeyer and Chittka (2005) 'Honeybee (Apis mellifera) vision can discriminate between and recognise images of human faces'

Avarguès-Weber et al. (2018) 'Does Holistic Processing Require a Large Brain? Insights From Honeybees and Wasps in Fine Visual Recognition Tasks'

[jupiterswasphouse]

[VIDEO AND PHOTOS TAKEN: MAY 5TH, 2025 | Video and Image IDs: A video and six photos of a red and black female carolina red paper wasp perching on a leaf holding a ball of water in her mandibles, with it at various stages of dripping out /End IDs.]

Her water ball!!! :]

[cannibal-dogz]

GUYS LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS BABY I SAW LAST NIGHT OMLLL

Nd here's a little pocketbook entry on her :]

I wanted to pick her up sooo bad but my friends wouldn't let me 💔

SHE WAS SO CHILLY :(( IT WAS LIKE 10°C LAST NIGHT :(( POOR GIRL

[look-at-a-speck-on-the-ground]

a couple of very pretty paper wasps!

[the-bug-informant]

Here we have this beautiful wasp queen building her nest in my back door!

I can't see her very well, but given my location and the type of nest, I can assume this is a paper wasp queen.

When paper wasp larvae hatch, they remain in their combs to be fed and taken care of, and when they're ready to pupate, workers will cover their comb with a cap.

Wasps are predators, hunting smaller insects like flies and caterpillars, but they also are foragers and important pollinators.

Unlike yellow jackets or hornets, paper wasps are generally docile unless their nests are disturbed, in which case they'll defend the nests with their lives. And unlike bees, wasps can sting more than once, since they don't leave their stingers behind.

Wasps are also venomous! While their venom is generally only used for prey, some people are allergic to it and it can cause anaphalaxys, so be careful and steer clear if that applies to you!

My wasp queen here unfortunately has chosen a poor place for her nest, since we use this door daily. But it's not her fault! She simply found a high, dry space, and like any good mother would, she built her nest where she thought her offspring would be safe.

Unfortunately for her, I have to remove her nest while she's gone foraging, since I have dogs and I live with someone who is deathly allergic to wasp stings. Fortunately, she's the only one at the moment, she hasn't laid eggs, so all I have to do is remove the nest and clean the area while she's gone.

Hopefully mama will find a better spot for her nest.

[ljsbugblog]

just for fun, a compilation of every wasp species I've seen drink from the pond so far.

Spider Wasp, genus Fabriogenia.

Potter Wasp, subfamily Eumeninae.

Potter Wasp, genus Paralastor.

Square-headed Wasp, subfamily Crabroninae.

Vase-cell Mud-dauber Wasp, Sceliphron formosum.

Square-headed Wasp, genus Pison.

Australian Paper Wasp, Polistes humilis.

[chickenmeow]