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Posts Tagged: European paper wasps
Wasps: Fascinating Insects But Often Demonized
If you hate wasps, and brush them off as just "uninvited guests at my picnic," take another look. For one, they're pollinators. Two, they're great predators, contributing to the biocontrol of such lepidopteran pests as...
A honey bee and a Western yellowjacket meet on a rose at a UC Davis bee garden. Both are pollinators. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A foraging European paper wasp, Polistes dominula. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The antennae of the European paper wasp are orange. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The antennae of the Western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, are black. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ever Seen a Wasp Colony in a Frog's Mouth?
In real life, frogs eat flies, mosquitoes, bees, wasps and other insects. But have you ever seen a frog's mouth filled with an entire European wasp colony? No? Check this out! On Aug. 8, sharp-eyed Adrienne R. Shapiro of Davis spotted a...
Adrienne R. Shapiro of Davis captured this image of a nesting European paper wasps in the mouth of a garden frog statue in a Davis neighborhood. (Photo courtesy of Adrienne R. Shapiro)
A European paper wasp nest in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A European paper wasp peeks over a yellow rose in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
European paper wasps exiting a nest in a recycling bin at the University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A yellowjacket drinking water on a hot day. Its black antennae distinguish it from the orange-tipped antennae of the European paper wasp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
These European Paper Wasps Didn't Get the Memo
They didn't get the memo. A sign on a recycling bin near the Mann Laboratory at the University of California, Davis, clearly reads "Bottles and Cans Only." It says nothing about wasps. But there they were: European paper wasps (Polistes dominula)...
A sign on a UC Davis recycling bin clearly says "Bottles and Cans Only." It says nothing about wasps. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the European paper wasps building their nest beneath the overhanging lid of a recycling bin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
European paper wasps even built a nest in a donation box in the Reiman Gardens, Iowa State University. "These ladies had expensive taste," quipped associate professor Amy Toth, who reseachers European paper wasps. (Photo by Amy Merritt, Reiman Gardens)
Why Influx of Caterpillars Linked to Hawks
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."--John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra Muir said it well. Muir (1938-1914), the naturalist and conservationist known as "The Father of Our National...
Three's company! Three juvenile Cooper's hawks, as identified by Andrew Engilis, Jr. curator of the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology,cooling off in an urban birdbath in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary gets ready to lay an egg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary caterpillars defoliating the passionflower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How Wasps Select Their Mates
If you've been lying awake at night wondering how European paper wasps select their mates--or if you're just naturally curious--you'll want to attend Amanda "Mandy" Izzo's seminar at 12:10 p.m.., Friday, Jan. 27 in 6 Olson Hall, UC Davis. Izzo, who...
European paper wasp (Polistes dominulus). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
