Taking the Sting Out of Paper Wasps

The fear of getting stung by wasps has warped our outlook on these magnificent, intelligent creatures which lead complex and colourful lives. Yes, they sting to either subdue their prey or defend themselves, their young ones, and their colonies when they sense a threat or feel provoked. But not all wasps sting. Though wasps are considered social insects, not all wasps are social. Very few among the ~100,000 odd species of wasps identified worldwide have the agency to sting and be social. And paper wasps are among those few. The female paper wasp possesses a powerful stinger at the end of her tapering abdomen, doubling as an ovipositor (egg-laying organ). Like most other wasps, paper wasps boast smooth, glossy, slender bodies, with thorax and abdomen joined at the characteristically svelte “waist”. The narrow, pinched waist, also called “petiole”, is one of the more easily distinguishable physical traits that help us to tell wasps from bees.

Paper wasps belong to the Vespidae family and get their name because they are master paper sculptors. They build intricate nests, fit for a relatively small colony, using paper-like material which is exclusively prepared by mixing their saliva with wood fibre gathered from dead wood, plant stems, and even wooden structures in our homes, using their powerful mandibles. They chew on wood till it is pulped to the desired quality, good enough to build sturdy nests. Interestingly, their saliva accords a water-resistant quality to their nests. A single nest usually harbours anywhere between ~20-200 individuals. That is small compared to say a hornet’s (another type of wasp) nest. Each colony is founded by a single foundress or multiple foundresses (yes, all workers are females) and each time a brand new nest must be built to last for about a year.

Paper wasps have very important roles to play in the ecosystems they inhabit. They are nature’s appointed “pest” control agents hunting down caterpillars, several other insects, and even some arachnids (such as spiders). This attribute is useful to humans, too, as paper wasps help control garden and agricultural pest populations. While they are adept hunters of insects and spiders, they themselves make for vulnerable prey to their much larger winged counterparts — such as hornets and birds — and various insects, arachnids, and mammals looking for a crunchy protein snack. Paper wasps also act as plant pollinators.