Asian paper wasp
The Asian paper wasp is a slim wasp, reddish brown or black with yellow rings. When it flies, its long legs dangle down below it. It builds a small paper nest, often on houses, bushes and trees.
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Fun facts
In spring a single queen starts the nest all by herself.
It glues its nest together with a special spit that it makes from its food.
In rainy weather the queen spreads extra spit over the nest to keep it from falling apart.
It arrived in New Zealand in 1979 and has spread over much of the country.
The first babies of the year are all girls. Boys only hatch from early summer.
Most asked questions about Asian paper wasp
?What does the Asian paper wasp eat?
It hunts small animals, especially caterpillars, to feed its young.
?How big is the Asian paper wasp?
It is about 13 to 25 millimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Polistes chinensis
- Named by
- Fabricius, 1793
- Group
- Wasps and hornets
- Family
- Vespidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Vespidae
- Lives on
- Asia, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Chinese paper wasp, Japanese paper wasp
Where the facts come from
- Polistes chinensis (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 photographer= User:Opencage. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same 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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