The Vespidae are a large (nearly 5000 species), diverse, cosmopolitan family of wasps, including nearly all the known eusocial wasps (such as Polistes fuscatus, Vespa orientalis, and Vespula germanica) and many solitary wasps.[1] Each social wasp colony includes a queen and a number of female workers with varying degrees of sterility relative to the queen. In temperate social species, colonies usually last only one year, dying at the onset of winter. New queens and males (drones) are produced towards the end of the summer, and after mating, the queens hibernate over winter in cracks or other sheltered locations. The nests of most species are constructed out of mud, but polistines and vespines use plant fibers, chewed to form a sort of paper (also true of some stenogastrines). Many species are pollen vectors contributing to the pollination of several plants, being potential or even effective pollinators,[2] while others are notable predators of pest insect species, and a few species are invasive pests.[3][4]
The subfamilies Polistinae and Vespinae are composed solely of eusocial species, while the Eumeninae, Euparagiinae, Gayellinae, Masarinae and Zethinae are all solitary with the exception of a few communal and several subsocial species. The Stenogastrinae are facultatively eusocial, considering nests may have one or several adult females; in cases where the nest is shared by multiple females (typically, a mother and her daughters) there is reproductive division of labor and cooperative brood care.[5]
In the Polistinae and Vespinae, rather than consuming prey directly, prey are premasticated and fed to the larvae, which in return, produce a clear liquid (with high amino acid content) for the adults to consume; the exact amino acid composition varies considerably among species, but it is considered to contribute substantially to adult nutrition.[6]
Fossils are known since Aptian of the Early Cretaceous, with several described species from Cretaceous amber.[7]
^Pickett, Kurt M.; Wenzel, John W. (2004). "Phylogenetic Analysis of the New World Polistes (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae) Using Morphology and Molecules". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 77 (4): 742–760. doi:10.2317/E-18.1. S2CID 85737989.
^Sühs, R.B.; Somavilla, A.; Putzke, J.; Köhler, A. (2009). "Pollen vector wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) of Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Anacardiaceae), Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil". Brazilian Journal of Biosciences. 7 (2): 138–143.
^Beggs, Jacqueline R., Eckehard G. Brockerhoff, Juan C. Corley, Marc Kenis, Maité Masciocchi, Franck Muller, Quentin Rome, and Claire Villemant. "Ecological effects and management of invasive alien Vespidae." BioControl 56 (2011): 505-526.
^Beggs, J. "The ecological consequences of social wasps (Vespula spp.) invading an ecosystem that has an abundant carbohydrate resource." Biological Conservation 99, no. 1 (2001): 17-28.
^PK Piekarski, JM Carpenter, AR Lemmon, E Moriarty-Lemmon, BJ Sharanowski. (2018) Phylogenomic Evidence Overturns Current Conceptions of Social Evolution in Wasps (Vespidae). Molecular Biology and Evolution. 35:2097-2109. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy124
^Hunt, J.H.; Baker, I.; Baker, H.G. (1982). "Similarity of amino acids in nectar and larval saliva: the nutritional basis for trophallaxis in social wasps". Evolution. 36 (6): 1318–22. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1982.tb05501.x. PMID 28563573.
^Perrard, Adrien; Grimaldi, David; Carpenter, James M. (April 2017). "Early lineages of Vespidae (Hymenoptera) in Cretaceous amber: Vespidae in Cretaceous amber" (PDF). Systematic Entomology. 42 (2): 379–386. doi:10.1111/syen.12222. S2CID 90328491.
The Vespidae are a large (nearly 5000 species), diverse, cosmopolitan family of wasps, including nearly all the known eusocial wasps (such as Polistes...
commonly known wasps, such as yellowjackets and hornets, are in the family Vespidae and are eusocial, living together in a nest with an egg-laying queen and...
to prevent the loss of eggs or brood. Most social wasps of the family Vespidae make nests from paper, but some stenogastrine species, such as Liostenogaster...
Eumeninae, are a cosmopolitan wasp group presently treated as a subfamily of Vespidae, but sometimes recognized in the past as a separate family, Eumenidae....
European hornets on their nest European hornet Hornet stings Paper wasps Vespidae "Hornets: Gentle Giants". Dieter Kosmeier. 2013. Retrieved 2014-09-30....
also called “blackjacket”), is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae, which includes multiple cousin species in the northern hemisphere, such...
with which each individual hive operates. The wasps within the family Vespidae exhibit a wide range of body sizes, and S. septentrionalis is one of the...
Carpenter, James M. (2016). "Taxonomic studies on potter wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) of south India". Zootaxa. 4171 (1): 1–50. doi:10.11646/zootaxa...
Oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis) is a social insect species of the family Vespidae. It can be found in Southwest Asia, Northeast Africa, the island of Madagascar...
for the finer ridges on its propodeum. It is a social wasp in the family Vespidae and subfamily Polistinae. The species is native to the United States from...
Euodynerus megaera is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae. "Euodynerus megaera species details". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2018-04-05...
"Checklist of the species in the subfamily Vespinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae)" (PDF). Natural History Bulletin of Ibaraki University. 1: 51–92. Vespula...
Synoeca De Saussure, 1852, a neotropical genus of social wasps (hymenoptera: vespidae: epiponini)". Entomologica Americana. 115 (1): 81–89. doi:10.1664/07-ra-002r...
changed, with Rhopalosomatidae as a sister group of the Vespidae and the clade Rhopalosomatidae + Vespidae as sister to all other classical vespoids and apoids...
Euodynerus schwarzi is a nearctic species of potter wasp in the family Vespidae. "Euodynerus schwarzi species details". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2018-04-05...
Hymenopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. Part V. Vespidae. British Museum (Natural History). pp. 41–42. Buck, Matthias; Marshall...
umbrella paper wasps. Polistes is the single largest genus within the family Vespidae, with over 200 recognized species. Their innate preferences for nest-building...
"Checklist of the species in the subfamily Vespinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae)" (PDF). Natural History Bulletin of Ibaraki University. 1: 51–92. Archer...
remain about the differences between hornets and other wasps of the family Vespidae, specifically the yellowjackets, which are members of the same subfamily...
order Hymenoptera, containing wasps, ants and bees. It is in the family Vespidae, with wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets. It is in the subfamily Polistinae...
which build their nests from mud; this excludes members of the family Vespidae (especially the subfamily Eumeninae), which are instead referred to as...
2015. This data has also been important to confirm the place of the wider Vespidae family in the Vespoidea superfamily, and confirms that Vespoidea is monophyletic...
"Misidentification of Vespula alascensis as V. vulgaris in North America (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Vespinae)" (PDF). AMNH Research Library Digital Repository. American Museum...
esuriens is a species of potter wasp found in tropical Asia, belonging to the Vespidae family. They can be separated from the similar looking Delta pyriforme...
It was described by Dru Drury around 1770. It is a member of the family Vespidae, which includes paper wasps (subfamily Polistinae), pollen wasps (subfamily...
Euodynerus foraminatus is a species of potter or mason wasp in the family Vespidae. It is notable as a hymenopteran with fertile diploid males. "Euodynerus...
red and black mason wasp, is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae. "Pachodynerus erynnis species details". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2018-04-06...
its propodeum. It is a social wasp (subfamily Polistinae) in the family Vespidae. Until taxonomic revision by Matthias Buck in 2012, P. rubiginosus was...
the North American continent. The genus Dolichovespula is in the family Vespidae. In North America, the genus is referred to as yellowjackets. The genus...
genus Dolichovespula and a member of the eusocial, cosmopolitan family Vespidae. It is known by many colloquial names, primarily bald-faced hornet, but...
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