European Paper Wasp

Polistes dominula — the European paper wasp — is one of about 200 species in genus Polistes (the open-comb paper wasps). Females construct umbrella-shaped open-comb nests from chewed wood pulp mixed with saliva — the world's first paper, predating human invention by tens of millions of years. The species is one of only a handful of insects scientifically proven to recognize individual nestmates by facial markings: Polistes fuscatus (the closely related American species) has been shown by Cornell researcher Michael Sheehan to discriminate between conspecific faces with the same speed and accuracy that primates discriminate among human faces. Paper wasp colonies are typically founded by a single queen but often co-founded by 2-4 unrelated females; once founding is complete, the females negotiate a violent dominance hierarchy in which the dominant 'alpha' becomes the egg-layer and the subordinates become workers. Nests rarely exceed 200 individuals (much smaller than yellowjacket or hornet colonies). Paper wasps are predators of caterpillars and other soft insect larvae — making them important biocontrol agents in gardens and orchards. P. dominula is invasive in North America (introduced to Massachusetts in 1981) and now displaces native Polistes species across much of the continent.