The Life Cycle of a Wasp/Yellowjacket

Inside the nest of the social wasp is a well organized unit. The queen is at the top of the chain. Her role is to establish a nest in the early spring. At first she will have to do all the work. Nest building, food gathering, offspring production and care must be accomplished by her alone. The first offspring are produced as a result of the mating she had done the previous fall. These first offspring mature into infertile females and some males. The females begin to relieve the queen of nest building and maintenance, brood care and food gathering. The males mate with the queen who continues to increase the numbers of members of her colony. All members of the nest understand their role and work diligently to fulfill their task oriented positions.

Late in the season, female reproductives will be produced. Differences between these and the infertile females produced earlier are few. The reproductives have increased levels of fats, believed to help them survive the upcoming winter. But physiological differences do not seem to explain why these females will produce offspring while the earlier female offspring will not. Some studies seem to indicate that the queen, through her behavior, suppresses reproductive development in subordinate offspring. When the summer comes to an end, the queen allows reproductive females to develop.

Before the winter, the fertile females mate with the colony males. As winter weather moves in, these fertilized females leave the nest, looking for shelter in places like woodpiles, sheds, garages, under debris and anyplace they can avoid freezing temperatures, wet rains and blowing winds. They remain largely inactive relying mostly on stored energy to live thru the winter. In the spring they begin foraging and looking for a place to build a nest.

The paper wasp is much less interested in human activity as they feed on other insects. Human - wasp interaction occurs mostly at water sources where the wasp visits to continue nest construction. A swimming pool or leaky drinking fountain can be a common meeting place. Also, interaction occurs when wasps build nests in areas where humans are active. Just opening the front door or chasing after the ball that landed in the woodpile can cause an unpleasant meeting.

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