50 interesting facts about wasps

Description and features

The wasp is brightly colored.
The pattern on her body is an alternation of black areas with yellow stripes on the body, as well as a pattern of the same color on the head and six legs. Usually the bright color of insects in nature often indicates that this creature is poisonous. Wasps are often the name given to all stinging flying insects belonging to the suborder Stalk-bellied insects, with the exception of bees.

All wasps in the photo look the same, just like in real life, but they may differ in size. They have four transparent wings arranged in pairs. In addition, they have a very powerful mouthparts and faceted eyes, which provide the insect with excellent vision.

Coarse hairs can be observed on their paws, allowing such creatures to grip and hold on to a variety of surfaces.

This insect has two ways of fighting against the enemies that the wasp has in nature: mammals, birds, lizards and others.

First of all, the bright colors themselves provide powerful protection. It frightens the enemy, and hunters of various stripes, hungry for prey, lose their appetite when they look at the wasps. It’s just that their color causes unpleasant associations in many living creatures.

But even if one of the predators foolishly attempts to feast on such an insect, after the first misfire, their desires completely disappear. It's just that the sensations are not very pleasant. Therefore, subsequently, enemies stop making attempts to hunt wasps, having developed a warning reflex in themselves.

But in addition to passive methods of protection, these insects also have active methods. And their poisonous sting helps them in this - an autonomous organ, similar to a dagger blade in appearance and principle of action.

It freely penetrates under the skin of the animal, and also comes out without difficulty, having previously injected its portion of poison. This organ is located at the end of the abdomen, like a bee, because it is an insect very similar to a wasp , also capable of stinging.

But the bites of these two poisonous creatures have a number of differences, primarily for themselves. Unlike bees, who die after using their sharp weapon at least once and leaving it in the enemy’s body, wasps remain alive.

When a wasp stings, it does not leave a sting, unlike a bee.

Moreover, they feel great after a bite and are quite capable of making a new attack. In addition, wasps are endowed with the ability to use not only stings, but powerful jaws when attacking. But, like bees, these insects, sensing the smell of poison released by a fellow insect into the enemy’s body, will certainly enter into battle, collectively attacking the object that caused the alarm.

Externally, these insects are certainly similar, but it is not very difficult to distinguish them even by color. If the wasp is yellow and black, then the stripes on the bee’s body have a slightly different hue, with the addition of orange tones.

Pictured is a wasp and a bee

How a wasp uses its sting

You should always remember that the wasp is a very aggressive insect that can sting at the slightest disturbance.

The structure of a wasp.

We will take a closer look at how this process occurs:

Initially, the insect is affected by some irritating smell or she sees that someone is very close to the nest and a threat may come from him. In other words, it defines the victim.
The wasp is on the warpath. She flies towards the enemy and at this moment the sting is still hidden in her abdomen.
When a yellow-black striped warrior flies up to an object, special muscles in his body contract and literally push the stinger out.
Nature provides that before the poison enters the victim’s body, it is necessary for the sting to penetrate there to a certain depth. If the insect fails to do this, the poison will not be released from the special gland.
If the wasp stings the victim at the prescribed distance, then a portion of poison is released from the poisonous gland. It, through a channel-duct located inside the sting, directly enters the body of the “enemy”.
The insect leaves the victim, easily removing its weapon.
The wasp does not immediately hide its sting back into its abdomen. She is ready to repeat her attack if she deems it necessary. The insect can sting 4-5 times in a row. In this case, each time a new portion of poison will be released.

When the insect is no longer going to sting, the sting returns to its place in the abdomen. During each penetration of a sharp organ, 02-03 mg of poison enters the enemy’s body. Wasp stings are more painful than bee stings.

What a wasp looks like - photo

There are about twenty thousand species of wasps all over the world, differing in color, body shape, type of housing construction, size and degree of aggressiveness. In addition to the fact that wasps are aggressive stinging insects, they are known for the characteristic construction of their nests - in appearance they resemble paper jugs. It should be noted that the types of nests are quite different. For example, there are open nests, with honeycombs, and there are closed ones. Some Hymenoptera prefer to build nests in hollow walls and other inaccessible places. It is in such cases that we can say that there are wasps, but where they are flying from is unknown.

A wasp nest can be found in a barn or garage.

Wasps can also take shelter under the roof of a house, on a tree, in the corners of terraces and other similar secluded places. Sometimes the nest consists of honeycombs fastened together.

The body of the average wasp (16-21 mm) is black, with a yellow pattern on the head and chest.

Common wasps nest in the ground, for example in burrows abandoned by rodents. They are even able to expand their home to a significant size, so that more than one thousand individuals can live in it. Their length is 13-19 mm.

Below you can see a closed wasp nest in the ground, which was apparently destroyed by a forest animal.

Hornets prefer to live in hollow trees, in birdhouses, under roofs and in the ground. Hornets are much larger than wasps; working individuals have a body 22 mm long, and females up to 35 mm. Their color is brownish with a yellow pattern on the head and abdomen, the tint of the wings is yellowish.

Wasps in a house or country house are found on the surface of old buildings and fences, where they scrape off wood, which they use to build nests.

Hornets love tree bark.

When building a nest, the female first creates a cell in which she lays eggs; it turns out that along the edges of the nest there are cells in which one egg lies.

Wasps feed on meat, insects, fish, berries and tree fruits. They chew off pieces of food and feed them to the larvae.

Wasp eye model

Scientists have managed to construct an optical device that replicates the abilities of a wasp's eye. This is a 280 degree viewing system. Experts plan to install the unique device on aircraft, military equipment, and robots for various purposes.

Interesting!
In the scheme, German scientists provided two optical trajectories. The upper part of the camera is convex, forms an image by beating rays, the central camera collects rays using lenses. The camera provides shooting at a frequency of up to 80 frames per second. The received frames are then analyzed by the system and assembled into a single whole.

The design is at the stage of improvement. Experts plan to replicate the exact model of a wasp's eye. Insects have 3 photoreceptors - near ultraviolet, blue, green, allowing them to see at relatively long distances. The wasp quickly detects movement thanks to the flickering light.

Types of wasps

Zoologists have described a huge number of varieties of wasps. They differ in the pattern located on the head, usually in the front part. In most cases, the drawing stands out for its clarity, but its shape can be very different. For example, the common wasp has a pattern in the shape of an anchor.

All types of wasps belong to one of two categories: social representatives of these insects and solitary ones. What this means will be discussed later. First, let’s describe some of the representatives of these types. And let's start with the first of them.

Paper wasps are a group that includes many subfamilies. Only in the central regions of Europe there are about 60 such species, and around the world there are about a thousand.

These insects are also simply called social wasps, since they live in colonies that have a cohesive and very interesting social structure.

And such wasps earned their first name – “paper” – because of the way they build their nests. This will also be discussed later.

Paper wasps get their name from their nest material, which resembles paper.

Hornets are the name of a whole genus of paper wasps. Moreover, its representatives are distinguished by significant sizes, reaching a length of 55 cm (but these are the largest). Such insects live in the Northern Hemisphere and are considered endangered today, and therefore it is clear that they are not common.

The hornet wasp has a significant width of the crown and a rounded abdomen compared to other relatives. The venom of such insects is incredibly effective, and therefore their bites are extremely painful. And the person affected by them, as a rule, receives medical assistance.

These attacks are all the more dangerous because such an insect is capable of making several injections of poison in a row. Deaths among people affected by such attacks are also common. Hornets have recently been classified as true wasps - a family that also includes the subfamilies Vespina and Polistina.

The hornet and the wasp are similar in appearance, but differ in size

Solitary wasps, as the name itself suggests, differ from their social relatives in their natural predisposition to a solitary existence. Such insects include the following subfamilies of the wasp kingdom, which are worthy of special mention.

1. Flower wasps are small creatures whose length usually does not exceed a centimeter. Their food consists of pollen and flower nectar. They build their nests from sand and clay, moistening them with saliva.

Their life cycle, including the larval stage, is about two years. In total, about a hundred varieties of such wasps are known. They usually hang around in places where there is a source of food for them, that is, flowers.

2. Sand wasps . There are many more species of such insects, compared to those just described. There are about 8800 of them in the world. Their body length can be quite small, about half a centimeter.

But there are larger specimens. Their sizes reach up to 2 cm. They are found mainly in the tropics. They feed on insects, first paralyzing them with their poison. Nests are built in the ground.

The body of most wasps is black and yellow.

There is a wide variety of sand wasps, including sand and burrowing ones.

But there are exceptions, because specimens of unusual colors live on earth. For example, black wasps . These insects can be large or medium in size.

Their venom is extremely toxic. They are found mostly in the tropics, but there are varieties that take root well in colder areas. The favorite prey of such creatures are spiders, which they hunt with great skill. And the meat of the victims is used to feed the larvae.

red wasps are also found in nature .
They are also considered unconditionally dangerous for representatives of the human race.

Body structure

The body of a wasp consists of a head, torso, legs and wings.

The eyes have a special structure - they consist of a large number of plates - facets, this makes it possible to see simultaneously in all directions. The eyes are bulging and protrude above the head.

But besides these eyes, wasps have three more eyes, located at the top of their heads. It’s hard to believe that a wasp is so big-eyed, but you can easily be convinced of this by examining the wasp’s head in a close-up photo.

Multifunctional antennae grow on the head - they are needed for smell and touch, the wasp uses them to detect air movement, and they also work as taste buds.

The wasp’s antennae are also a device for measuring cells when building a nest.

Only females have a sting - in females it plays the role of an ovipositor, and in case of danger, the insect uses it as a weapon - releasing poison through it into the body of its enemy.

The danger of the black wasp

The black wasp is beneficial in the garden, but can harm a person if it bites him. Usually the bites are not fatal and the swelling subsides after 3-4 days, but if there is individual intolerance, this greatly complicates the situation. In this case, a person may die if he is not provided with medical assistance in time.

The pain of a pompilid bite is equivalent to the bite of a red ant.

Immediately after an insect attack you must:

Disinfect the wound with peroxide and manganese.
Apply cold to stop the penetration of toxins.
Take an antihistamine to relieve swelling and redness.
Drink tea, water, Regidron solution. A large amount of liquid will speed up the elimination of toxins.

Typically, an insect bite causes redness and burning at the site of penetration. Pain and swelling may vary in intensity depending on the individual characteristics of the victim’s body.

You should be wary if, after a bite, the swelling extends beyond the penetration zone, body temperature rises, shortness of breath appears, difficulty breathing, and blood pressure drops. All these symptoms indicate intolerance to poison.

In this case, you need to take an antihistamine and call an ambulance. It is especially dangerous if a wasp has bitten a child or a pregnant woman. In this case, anaphylactic shock can be fatal.

What do they eat?

What hornets eat is the following::

sugary plant juice;
juice of ripe soft fruits (peach, pear, apple);
berries (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries);
sugary secretions from aphids;
bee products.

These insects are excellent hunters. Their victims include grasshoppers, spiders, and dragonflies. They can also live by feeding on flies, small locusts, caterpillars and close relatives - bees.

Prey is killed with powerful jaws and stings, then moistened with saliva and chewed to form a slurry. But the adult does not swallow this portion of food; she feeds it to the hungry larvae during their dynamic growth.

In 24 hours, a large colony of Hymenoptera feeds its larvae up to 500 g of processed other insects. Some hornets, in addition to catching live prey, also constantly search for dead insects. To live, they do not disdain fish or meat, which people throw away as waste. They actively feed their offspring with all this.

Where does the wasp live?

Photo: Animal wasp

Representatives of wasps are widespread throughout the world. They can easily be found in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Africa, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Australia, China, Japan. Such animals do not live only in the hot Sahara, the Arctic and the Arabian Peninsula. Wasps prefer a temperate climate and cannot exist in regions that are too hot or too frosty.

Interesting fact: A very dangerous species of wasp lives in Japan and China - the Asian hornet. Its size can reach six centimeters. One bite of such an insect is quite enough to kill a person, especially if he is allergic. According to statistics, up to fifty people die every year from the sting of the Asian hornet in these countries.

Most representatives of wasps live in the Northern Hemisphere. Only a small population can be found in Brazil. These insects choose their habitat according to several criteria: temperate climate, presence of trees, humans. The thing is that the human habitat makes it easier for wasps to get their food. The tree is used for building nests and raising larvae. Some individuals build homes from clay and pebbles. Their nests look very much like small castles.

Reproduction

With the arrival of warm days, the female hornet is actively looking for a place to lay eggs. She is ready to live and start a family only in suitable conditions, so in her search she flies over large areas. Having found a convenient corner, she immediately begins to create her home.

Each egg has its own sector. After 2-3 days, small hornet larvae hatch from them. They chew the lid and climb out. The offspring are born long before the winter period, manage to get stronger and continue the work that was started by the uterus.

After fertilization, the males die, followed by the old queen, and after some time the unfertilized individuals lose their lives. Those who have been fertilized overwinter, continue to live and then create their own nest. In the hornet family, reproduction is successful.

This is possible because the colonies are well organized. Everything happens harmoniously, thanks to the division of responsibilities. Some feed, build nests, while other members of the family raise offspring.

Wasp life cycle, lifestyle

Everyone has encountered wasps at least once and is well aware of their aggressive nature. The insect, without hesitation, will attack first if it senses danger. Predators are capable of not only stinging, but also biting with their jaws, which in itself is less painful. The family also has a herd instinct. If there are wasps nearby that sense the poison, they will come to the rescue and help attack.

The entire short life cycle of insects can be divided into several stages:

Birth and arrangement of the nest. With the arrival of warmth, the queen begins to nest to give life to a new generation;
Reproduction. After laying eggs, fertile males and females emerge, ensuring further reproduction.

Every gardener, knowing why wasps are needed, will say that wasps only get in the way, because they spoil the fruit harvest, attack people and animals, and feed on the leftover sweet foods from the table. But they also destroy other pests that attack garden plots

In addition, they pollinate plants, which is also important

Social structure

In winter, wasps hibernate under tree bark, fallen leaves, and in their nests. The nests are located in secluded corners. In the spring, the queens fly out and look for a new place to build nests. Nests are needed so that the wasp can reproduce and increase the size of the colony. Tree bark, small pebbles and other natural building materials are used in the construction of nests.

The first offspring are sterile individuals. They subsequently continue building the nest and provide food for the queen, caring for the offspring. At the end of summer, the queen produces a new brood, which is also capable of breeding. Once the females have been fertilized, they look for a place to spend the winter. Males die quickly.

Ground wasp

Most predatory wasps live in the ground. Only a few do not rebuild their nests at all, settling in natural openings. Single individuals prefer to lay eggs in separate cells, which is not typical for social ones. There is no connection between the larvae and adult insects of solitary wasps. Once clogged, the larvae survive on their own. A remarkable fact is that the male larvae are placed in smaller cells. From this we can conclude that males are smaller than females.

Solitary individuals build more interesting nests than social ones. These include: Burrowing wasps, otherwise called Sphecidae. They build nests in protected corners. These are mainly places on the side of the house walls. Flower wasps, otherwise called Masarinae, build their homes in exactly the same way.

Reproduction and lifespan

In social individuals, the eggs are laid by the female. Fertilization occurs once in the autumn. A wasp can lay several hundred eggs per day, from which larvae will subsequently hatch and turn into pupae. The last stage of the reproduction cycle is the transition to the adult stage.

After mating, the female begins building a home. She brings insects paralyzed by poison to the nest, and then lays eggs on their abdomen. After this, the female seals the nest for the winter, during which the offspring eats the supplies prepared by the mother. Once the larvae develop into adult wasps and are able to leave the nest on their own, they fly away.

Interesting! Wasps easily find their homes even after flying long distances. But if you move the nest in the absence of insects, they will not be able to find it.

The life expectancy of males and females is different. The first live on average for a couple of weeks. The male dies after mating. Queen wasps live for several months, and in warm countries - for years. They are responsible for choosing a nest site and raising offspring. With the onset of frost, mature wasps die, and young individuals overwinter in the wood.

Laying eggs

In the summer, the working group of the aspen colony begins to attach additional honeycombs to the nests so that the queen can lay eggs there. From this moment exactly three weeks will pass, and new viable individuals will be born. Throughout the summer, the queen lays eggs several times. On average, she produces more than a thousand such embryos throughout her life.

Solitary wasps themselves look for a suitable place for nesting and breeding. The insect prepares a cell and places an egg in it. Moreover, each future wasp requires a separate chamber. The larva emerges from the egg after two days.

Larval development

In appearance, they resemble thick worms or white flower slugs. The female continues to care for her young. Wasps feed their offspring with small balls of chewed insects. The larvae also produce sticky mucus, which is eaten by the female. Thus, a mutual exchange of food occurs.

Larvae require a lot of protein to develop. Two weeks later, the future wasp seals the entrance to the chamber with a cocoon. The pupal stage lasts 6-7 days, after which the formation of the insect ends. Adult individuals, having left the cell, occupy the appropriate place in the hierarchy and carry out their work.

The role of the queen in the wasp colony

The main feature that allows you to distinguish the queen from other female wasps is its larger size. If most individuals of the common wasp do not reach 2 cm, then the queen of the swarm grows up to 20-25 mm. Apart from size, it is difficult to identify any specific features.

In some families, not only the queen, but also worker wasps lay eggs to replenish the colony. Females reproduce but do not claim the role of queen. At the same time, work in the nest must be carried out uninterruptedly, so if the queen dies, ordinary wasps can easily replace her.

This family of insects is called Polista. New individuals appear in it throughout the warm season.

Social and solitary wasps

There are many varieties of wasps, but the entire suborder is divided into social wasps, living in swarms, and solitary wasps.

Solitary wasps do not build nests, but each single wasp has the opportunity to reproduce, while social wasps that form families, the number of individuals in which reaches several thousand, do not have this opportunity due to the hierarchy - only queens and male wasps take part in reproduction.

The social species of wasps settles in nests that the insects build themselves.

What kind of wasps are found in Russia?

Crabronids (sand wasps)

Compared to the tropics, the Russian climate is poorly suited for most riders. And yet, in Russian latitudes they are also found, although less frequently. The most common types:

Mimarommatids. A tenacious detachment, whose representatives live even in the subantarctic. They lay their eggs on the eggs of other arthropods.
Mutillids (German wasps) are distinguished by their attractive appearance and bright colors. Over 4 thousand species of mutilids are found in nature, and in all of them the males are larger than the females. The size does not exceed 3 cm, and the body is covered with hard hairs. They lay eggs on wasps, bees and flies.
Nutcrackers. Like relatives, they lay offspring on insects. Adults feed on plant juices.
Proctocorpoid riders. An adult has a microscopic body length of a maximum of 5 mm. In agriculture they have found application as a means of biological protection against pests.
Chalcides. One of the most numerous orders, which includes up to 200 species. Its representatives are highly valued in agriculture because they destroy those insects that pose a threat to pollinators.
Evanioid wasps. They differ in their special body structure. Their abdomen is raised from the chest. They leave offspring on other types of wasps, on cockroaches and sawflies, for which they have gained fame as protectors of the forest.
Typhia. About 20 species are found in Europe, and another 30 in Russia and the CIS countries. The body length of an adult does not exceed 1 cm. They usually have a black body color and brown wings. They prefer to lay eggs on beetles: dung beetles, May beetles and others. A rare case of symbiosis, since the victim does not die immediately, but continues to coexist with the wasp larva.

Japanese hornet

For your information! In the United States, the most common species is pompilidae (road wasps), which live in nests that are built in the ground, often along roadsides. They lay their eggs mainly on large spiders. In total there are about 4900 species of pompilids.

Crabronids (sand wasps) are common in Europe, over 600 species in total, but in total there are about 8 thousand varieties known, found throughout the planet. They usually make holes in the sand, where larvae are raised in nests. Food (bees, other wasps, other hymenoptera) is delivered to them by adult individuals, paralyzing the victims with their poison.

The remaining very numerous families of ichneumon wasps prefer the hot and humid climate of the tropics and subtropics. In the relict forests of the Amazon you can find unique insects up to 8 cm in length. It is noteworthy that scientists still continue to find new species, while a considerable number of unique insects are so rare that they can be classified as endangered.

Lifestyle and habitat

Wasps can be found almost everywhere, in almost every corner of the planet, with the exception of areas that are particularly unsuitable for life. They prefer to settle close to humans, because in the immediate vicinity of people and their homes there is always something to eat.

Now it's time to talk more about the social structure inherent in paper wasps. It is these representatives of the diversity of species already described that should be given special attention, because when they talk about wasps, they usually mean wild social wasps. Although this is not entirely correct.

The groups in which these insects gather to live together are close-knit families called colonies. They can have up to 20 thousand members. In such families there is a clearly established social structure and division into castes with a certain range of responsibilities.

The uterus is engaged in breeding offspring. Worker wasps look after the larvae, feed the rest of the family and guard the common home. The queen builds a nest out of a paper-like material.

It is produced naturally by wasps themselves, by grinding wood and mixing the material with their own saliva. Powerful jaws help these creatures build nests.

With these, the queen is capable of finely grinding hard wood. Worker wasps and drones are on average about 18 mm in size, but the queen of these insects is slightly larger. Males and females are approximately the same color, but females have a slightly larger abdomen. Single wasps may not build nests, but use burrows made by other insects and small rodents.

Everything about OSes - interesting facts

Varieties of wasps
Individual specialists study the life of wasps and continue to surprise ordinary people with interesting facts.

Little wasps. They are representatives of social, ordinary species. The body length of the female reaches 20 mm. Drones, workers, males - about 18 mm.
Tree wasp. Includes many varieties, has a bright black and orange color. The size range ranges from 10 to 60 mm. The most dangerous representative of this genus is the hornet, which can be distinguished by its large dimensions. An interesting representative is the synodica wasp, about which there is extremely little information.
Asian hornet. The most dangerous wasp. In China and Japan, 50 people die from bites every year, according to official statistics. For an allergy sufferer, one bite from a giant killer pest can be fatal. The size of the hornet reaches 5.6 cm.
Great spotted scolius. This species is the most beautiful representative of large wasps. The female’s body size is 55 mm, the male’s is 32 mm. Lays larvae on the body of larvae of cockchafers and rhinoceros. Leads a primitive, solitary lifestyle. Despite its impressive size, it is safe for humans. The consequences of the bite are numbness.
German women. Externally, wingless, furry females resemble an ant. Body size does not exceed 30 mm. The female has a bright color, the males of this species are brown in color. They do not build their own nests; they parasitize in the hives of bees and other wasps.

There are extremely many representatives of this species of Hymenoptera in the world, each of them is unique and has its own characteristics.

Wasps are amazing insects in many ways:

Emerald wasps are capable of capturing a large cockroach. Having inflicted a bite, the female seems to paralyze the will of the victim - the beetle, without resistance, follows the wasp, which holds it by the mustache with its mandibles.
The larvae of social species are real neaties! All waste products accumulate in their body until the moment they leave the nest. Having emptied, the young individuals take off. After this, the worker wasps carefully clean the nest of excrement.
Not all wasps have wings. For example, German wasps do not have them. These insects are more like ants. However, the sting of females is as dangerous as that of flying species.
Common wasps build the largest colonies in the world. Their nest can contain up to 15,000 cells and more than 5,000 worker wasps.
The largest nest belongs to German wasps. It was discovered in New Zealand. Its circumference was 1.75 meters.

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Habitat

All wasps are divided into two groups - social and solitary. Their habitat differs depending on their lifestyle.

Social individuals live in nests and hives. They choose their habitat depending on how much material there is nearby for building a home. Insects also try to settle in places where there is a lot of food.

The hive can be formed in the crown of trees or thickets of bushes. Some species build homes in dense grass or in the ground. They also choose human dwellings for nests. Wasps can settle on the balcony, attic, and also on the roof of the house. They often choose barns and garages for hives.

Solitary individuals, unlike social ones, do not have a permanent place of residence. They spend the night in the grass and on flowers. To stay on the plant, insects cling to it with their jaws or paws. At dawn, single birds fly to a new place.

What are they?

The main types of operating systems depending on the developer:

Windows is the “brainchild” of company M. At the time of writing this article, the latest version is Windows 10, but in popularity it is still inferior to the “seven”;
Mac OS X is a product from Apple, characterized by stable operation and minimal requirements for hardware performance;
Linux is distributed free of charge, the source code is freely available, which allows any user to make changes and improvements;
Mobile platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, Bada, Symbian and others. In fact, there are a lot of them, but most have already become a thing of the past, leaving only a couple of “giants” at the top.

Each “OS” has its own unique GUI - graphical interface that distinguishes it from others. Before the introduction of this "shell", people had to work in a gloomy command line environment. Oh, those were tough times...

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What types of wasps are there?

Insects are divided into several families. The most common wasp species are:

paper;
floral;
hornets;
shiny;
road;
German;
scolias;
Typhia;
riders.

Each insect has differences not only in body structure, but also in lifestyle, nutrition and toxicity of the poison.

Paper wasps

The most common subfamily of wasps in Russia is called paper wasps. 30 species of these insects live in temperate latitudes. Their appearance is familiar to everyone - a yellow-black body, a black head and short antennae. These wasps were called paper wasps because of the unusual structure of the nest. The walls of the hive are quite thin and resemble sheets of paper.

Insects unite in a large swarm. They build a nest in spring and summer. During the first month of summer, pests lay eggs. The diet of larvae differs from that of adults. The cubs feed on small insects that the swarm brings for them. Adult wasps only attack other species; they themselves do not eat protein foods. Insects drink nectar and juice from fruits.

The larva goes through several stages of development, including the period of pupation and adulthood. The whole process takes about 20 days. Therefore, most insects appear in sight in mid-summer.

Wasps protect their nest from possible dangers. A person who happens to be near the hive will be stung. If he does not leave the area, the entire swarm of wasps may arrive. In autumn, paper species leave the nest. Most individuals die before next spring. Young females spend the winter and continue the race with the onset of late spring.

Flower wasps

This type of insect belongs to the subfamily Foldoptera. Individuals are also called mazarins. Flower wasps settle alone and do not create a swarm.

The size of these insects is no more than 1 cm. Their black body is covered not with stripes, like paper wasps, but with yellow spots. Pests' feet are bright yellow.

Wasps feed on flower pollen and settle near a food source. To procreate, each female creates a nest, which consists of one cell. They build nests not only in trees, but also on the ground. Mazarins combine clay and sand with a special sticky secretion. After the wasp places the egg in the cell, it seals it with a sufficient amount of flower nectar.

Mazarins live for several years. They love hot climates. In Russia, the insect can be found in the southern part of the country.

Shiny wasps

Sparkles are distinguished by a relatively small body. The length of an adult is no more than 1.5 cm. Also, the color of these insects is not similar to other species. The black shell shimmers with a violet-green tint, reminiscent of a metal coating.

The body of shiny wasps has a concave shape. Due to this feature, pests can curl up into a ball when in danger. In some species, the sting has no function. Individuals scare away enemies with their bright colors. But there are also stinging species of shiny wasps.

This is interesting: A species of wasp called “beautiful shiners” parasitizes other insects. He lays eggs in the body of a spider that has been paralyzed by the pelopea. When the beautiful shiner larva hatches, it eats the pelopea and then the spider itself.

Males and females of this insect species differ in body structure. The abdomen of males consists of five segments. In females, one part changes to a tubular-shaped ovipositor.

Road wasps

The subfamily belongs to a single type. Road wasps are medium in size. They do not exceed 4 cm in length. The color of the insects is similar to the subfamily Foldoptera. The black shell is covered with yellow or red spots.

For more information about the type of wild black wasp, the danger to humans and methods of disposal, read this article.

This species of wasp has long hind legs. Each limb has a small appendage with which the insect can loosen the ground. Road species do not create nests in trees. They always choose burrows in the soil as their habitat. Wasps rarely fly and prefer to move on the ground.

Insect venom is very toxic. Their bite is quite painful. Road wasps are nicknamed killer wasps due to their aggressive nature. These are predatory insects that prey on arachnids. The road wasp can kill a tarantula with one blow of its poisonous sting. After the spider dies, the insect drags it into the hole and lays eggs in the body of the prey.

Hornet

The largest genus of the paper wasp group are hornets. These are the largest representatives of wasps, growing up to 5.5 cm. They are found mainly in the northern hemisphere, considered a rare species. The hornet is a fairly large representative of wasps with extremely caustic poison. Hornet stings are painful and can lead to disastrous consequences for humans.

Black wasps

Black wasps are also sand wasps. They are medium or large. Extremely poisonous, they live in tropical countries. Sometimes found in northern regions.

White and red wasps

White and red wasps are also extremely poisonous. They can kill a person with one bite.

Sand wasps

Sand wasp with prey

Sand wasps, numbering over 8 thousand species. They can be small - up to 0.5 cm or large - up to 2 cm. The species can be found in tropical countries. These wasps are predatory and live underground, where they build nests. Mostly black and yellow in color.

Interesting fact : paper wasps living near humans live in swarms. They distinguish each relative by remembering their faces.

German wasps

The second name of this subfamily is velvet ants. These include more than 4 thousand species. They live in deserts and steppes. Male and female German wasps are very different from each other.

The male is larger than the female. The maximum size of a wasp is 3 cm. Males have wings. They can be either completely black or with red spots in the sternum area.

Female velvet ants do not have wings. It is because of this feature that they received their name. The body of insects is covered with hairs and resembles velvet fabric. The sternum is bright red. The top of the abdomen is black with yellow splashes, the bottom has black and yellow stripes.

A squad of velvet ants takes over other people's hives. Insects settle in the nests of bumblebees and road wasps. The larvae feed on the eggs of other species that are in the hive. After the young individual escapes from the cell, it feeds on flower nectar and insect corpses.

The venom of the German wasp is toxic. If it bites a person, a painful swelling will form.

Scolia

The insects are as large in size as hornets. Scolia can reach 6 cm in length. They thrive in tropical climates, but sometimes adapt to northern regions. Scolia have a black and yellow coloration, but the wings are different from other individuals. They have a light brown tint with a purple sheen.

Scolia poison is dangerous for humans only if there is individual intolerance. But the reaction to a bite can be frightening. From the toxin, the limb affected by the poison begins to go numb.

Unlike other species, the female Scolia is larger in size than the male. Insects feed on the nectar of flowers. Scolia's offspring are carnivorous. The venom of adults paralyzes the nervous system of the larvae. Scolia sting the victim in the abdomen, immobilizing it. They feed their offspring with rhinoceros beetle larvae and hunt bronze beetles and beetles. The wasp lays eggs in the body of an immobilized victim. After this, the larva hatches and devours it from the inside.

Typhia

The subfamily includes about 50 species of wasps. Their size varies from 0.5 to 1.3 cm. Most individuals are black. There are species of insects with ebony shells and thin yellow stripes. The limbs of males and females are different. The paws of males are brown, females are burgundy.

A distinctive feature of typhus is a unique defensive reaction. When attacked, the wasp curls up into a ball.

Insects live in places where there are many pest beetles. They feed on the sticky secretions of aphids. Typhias attach eggs to the shells of beetles and bread beetles. Over time, larvae emerge from them, which gnaw through the shell of the insect and feed on it. Typhia pupates inside the chitinous covering of the beetle. The young individual emerges from the cocoon only the next year.

Typhias are often found in gardens and orchards. They can be seen on umbrella plants. Thanks to this type of wasp, the population of pests that destroy crops is reduced.

Rider

This subfamily is distinguished by a more elongated body and small size. There are individuals 3 mm long. The largest reach 3 cm. Color depends on the species. Individuals can be either black or completely transparent.

The wings of the rider are shaped like the wings of a dragonfly. Some species of the subfamily do not fly and look like ants. The body of these pests differs from other species in having a more elongated abdomen, which resembles a long tail. It may seem that the ichneumon wasp is a wasp with a long stinger, but this is not entirely true. The appendage is the sharp tip of the ovipositor. This species has no sting.

The parasites lay eggs in the bodies of insects. Most often they use caterpillars. The secretion contained in the ovipositor has a paralyzing effect on the victim. These pests pierce the insect's skin and inject poison under the skin. Then the clutch is placed inside the victim.

Equestrians prefer tropical habitats. But several species can be found in temperate climates.

All types of wasps have not yet been studied. Subfamilies of these insects live in different parts of the globe and quickly adapt to new conditions. Wasp venom rarely poses a danger to humans. And since insects destroy parasites that multiply on vegetable, fruit and berry crops, they bring many benefits to the crop.

Wasp enemies

Despite the serious poisonous weapon in the form of a sting, wasps are often attacked by other insects and become victims of birds and mammals.

Ants left without a queen destroy nests. Weak, sick individuals can become victims of these insects.
The fan is paradoxical. The beetle makes its way into the hive, into the burrow of ground wasps, and lays eggs. Larvae develop on the body of young wasps.
Hornets. The most formidable enemy of the wasp family is the killer wasps themselves, which have a significant advantage in size and number. Hornets completely devastate a family in one attack.
Buzzard birds hunt wasps. The chicks are fed with adults and larvae.

In late autumn, the activity of the wasp family decreases; they become slow and inactive. They become victims of insects and many birds. In early spring, bears search for insects under stumps and bark.