Hunter's Little Paper Wasp: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Bees and Wasps · day 7 of 7

Five facts

1. Look for the V-shaped yellow marks on its head. Both males and females wear them, and they help tell this wasp apart.
2. It likes to hide its nest low down, in rock piles or hollow logs, where predators are less likely to find it.
3. Its nests are small: a single open layer of cells with no outer cover, home to at most 75 adult wasps.
4. The queen has been seen coating her eggs with a special chemical mix, which marks them apart from eggs laid by other females.
5. It seeks out grass heads infected by a fungus to collect the sweet honeydew they ooze, and it can tell infected heads from healthy ones.

The quiz

1. What marks help identify this wasp?

• Red spots on its wings
• A white stripe on its back
• V-shaped yellow marks on its head (correct)
• Blue rings on its legs

Both sexes have V-shaped yellow markings on the head.

2. Where does this wasp often build its nest?

• At the top of tall trees
• In rock piles and hollow logs near the ground (correct)
• Floating on ponds
• Inside beehives

It picks sheltered, hidden spots close to the ground that predators find hard to reach.

3. Up to how many adult wasps can a nest hold?

• 75 (correct)
• 7
• 750
• 7,500

Nests are small, one-tiered and can house up to 75 adults.

4. Why does the queen coat her eggs with a chemical mix?

• To glue them to the nest
• To make them taste sweet
• To keep them warm
• To set them apart from eggs laid by other females (correct)

The coating distinguishes her eggs from those subordinates might lay.

5. What sweet food does this wasp collect from infected grass heads?

• Pollen
• Honeydew (correct)
• Tree sap
• Fruit juice

It looks for fungus-infected grasses and collects the honeydew they produce.

More about the Hunter's Little Paper Wasp

Same week

All lessons

Nature documentaries