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FAMILY VESPIDAE
- This page contains pictures and information about Small Brown Paper Wasps that we found
in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
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 - Body length 10mm
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- This Paper Wasps are common in Brisbane Garden and bush. This species is
smallest paper wasps that we found. Their head, thorax, abdomen and wings are
all in dark brown colour, with darker band on abdomen. They are not aggressive
but will sting if their nest is disturbed.
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- Their nests consist of several adjacent combs. Each comb is about 100mm
long, consists of two columns of cells. The above picture shows the established
paper wasps nest in late summer.
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- Paperwasps, like all ants and some bees, are social insects, each nest is a
colony of females. Only one female, the queen, lays all the eggs. All the other
females are workers, they help their mother queen for feeding their sisters. At
the end of the summer season, the colony produces male and fertile female
wasps. They mate with the males and fertile females from other colonies. The
fertile females then hind in some place to pass the winter. They will start
their own colony in the next spring season.
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- The above pictures show a wasp attending a larva. Paper Wasps feed their
young with insects such as caterpillars. Adult wasps feed on nectar. Notice the
way how to keep their wings when rest. This is the common characteristic of all
paper wasps. Other wasps do not keep their wings in this way.
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- Paperwasps setup nest in spring season. A few wasps
work together to build the nest. They could be sisters. The second
picture show a working wasp. Paper Wasps have a yearly cycle of their life. In
spring season a Paper Wasp female starts building its nest. She will be the
queen if her colony can be established. Paper Wasps build nest under
sheltered area, such as under palm leaf, large tree trunk and building
covers.
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- We found that for this species, some of them start a nest with a few wasps
working together. Some start a nest
by one single female. She will become the queen if she her nest can be established.
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 - Newly started nests, pictures taken on Jan 2010 in Karawatha Forest. It
seems that this species a few wasps like to make their nests at the same
stem of a plant.
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[ Up ] [ Brown Paper Wasp I ] [ Brown Paper Wasp II ] [ Brown Paper Wasp III ] [ Black and Yellow Paper Wasp ] [ Brown Paper Wasp ] [ Papernest Wasp ] [ Yellow Paper Wasp ]
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