Red Paper Wasp

The Red Paper Wasp is a robust member of the genus Polistes, the paper wasps, within the family Vespidae. It is one of the largest common paper wasps in North America, easily recognized by its overall brick-red to mahogany body color, which sets it apart from the more familiar black-and-yellow paper wasp species.

Like other Polistes, it is a social wasp that builds small, open-comb nests rather than the enclosed papery balls made by hornets and yellowjackets. These nests are constructed from chewed wood fibers mixed with saliva, giving them a gray, papery texture.

Ecologically, the Red Paper Wasp is valued as a predator of caterpillars and other soft-bodied insect pests, which it captures to feed its developing larvae, making colonies a natural check on garden and crop pests through the warmer months.

• Body almost entirely reddish-brown to dark mahogany, sometimes with dark wings that show a faint bluish or purplish sheen.
• Slender waist (petiole) typical of paper wasps, with long legs that dangle noticeably during flight.
• Smooth, hairless-looking exoskeleton compared to the fuzzier bumblebee-mimicking bees.
• Nest is an open, umbrella-shaped comb of hexagonal cells with no outer envelope, usually attached by a single stalk.
• Lookalikes: can be confused with the smaller, more common Polistes exclamans or with velvet ants, but its size and uniform red coloring are distinctive.

Found across the southeastern and central United States, favoring warm climates. Colonies are commonly built under roof eaves, porch ceilings, window frames, in sheds, and among dense shrubbery. Activity peaks from late spring through early fall, with wasps becoming inactive and seeking shelter once cold weather arrives.

Red Paper Wasps live in small, cooperative colonies founded by one or more overwintered queens (foundresses) each spring. Workers forage for nectar as an energy source and hunt caterpillars and other insect larvae, which they chew into a pulp to feed the brood. Colonies are generally not aggressive away from the nest but will defend it if disturbed, and adults can sting in defense of the colony. Their steady, hovering flight pattern near a nest site is a common way people first notice them.

Mated queens overwinter individually in bark crevices or wall voids, then emerge in spring to found new nests alone. The queen lays eggs in individual cells; these hatch into legless larvae that are fed chewed insect prey, then pupate and emerge as workers. Workers take over foraging and nest-building, allowing the queen to focus on egg-laying. Colonies grow through summer, producing new queens and males in late summer, after which the old colony declines and only new mated queens survive winter, giving the species one generation per year.