Name: European Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula)
Higher classification: Polistes Order: Hymenoptera Family: Vespidae Subfamily: Polistinae Tribe: Polistini Conservation Status: Least Concern (LE) by IUCN 3.1 Description: Little variation occurs among individuals of P. dominula; the wing lengths of males range from 9.5 to 13.0 millimetres (0.37 to 0.51 in), while those of females range from 8.5 to 12.0 millimetres (0.33 to 0.47 in). Its body is colored entirely yellow and black, similar to that of Vespula germanica, one of the most common and aggressive wasps in its native range. Sexual Dimorphism: The female mandible is black and sometimes has a yellow spot. Females have a black subantennal mark that rarely has a pair of small, yellow spots. The female vertex sometimes has a pair of small, yellow spots behind the hind ocelli. Females have yellow, comma-shaped scutal spots. Distribution: The native range of P. dominula covers much of southern Europe and North Africa, and temperate parts of Asia as far east as China. It has also been introduced to New Zealand[11], Australia, South Africa, and North and South America. Since the mid-1980s, the population of P. dominula has expanded to rather cooler regions, especially towards northern Europe. Global warming is speculated to have raised temperatures of certain areas, allowing P. dominula to expand to originally cooler regions. Habitat: P. dominula generally lives in temperate, terrestrial habitats such as chaparral, forest, and grassland biomes. They also have the propensity to colonize nearby human civilizations because man-made structures can act as great shelters and also are located close to the resources such as food.
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AboutDymadex's blogs on bugs, including insects and arachnids. Insects are hexapod invertebrates like ants, beetles, bees, and flies. Arachnids are joint-legged invertebrates like spiders, scorpions, ticks, and harvestmen. Other organisms in this blog include centipede, millipede, and worms. Archives
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