Western paper wasp
Mischocyttarus flavitarsis
The western paper wasp is a slim brownish wasp with long legs that dangle when it flies. It builds a small round paper nest that hangs from a thin stalk. It often lives close to people, under the edges of roofs.
Lives in
Western United States and Canada, near rivers and around houses
What does it eat?
It eats small creatures, nectar and dead animals.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Western paper wasp about 22 km/h (14 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its nest usually has fewer than 300 little rooms, which is quite small.
2
Boys mark their patch with a special smell that keeps others away.
3
In winter the queen finds a hiding place to sleep until spring.
4
From egg to grown-up wasp takes about 60 days.
you asked
Most asked questions about Western paper wasp
?Where does the western paper wasp build its nest?
Near rivers in the forest, or under roofs and in walls of houses.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Mischocyttarus flavitarsis
- Named by
- Saussure, 1854
- Group
- Wasps and hornets
- Family
- Vespidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Vespidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Mischocyttarus flavitarsis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Sanjay Acharya. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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