04/27/07--4th year male
It was 14 years after the Yellowjacket rock-throwing incident that the Polistes wasp (above) zapped us just once during our college days, but one's body doesn't forget. Polistes nimpha colonies are relatively small and easily manipulated. --Bill Hilton Jr. is honored to have been profiled as an outstanding alumnus in the Spring 2009 issue of Bio--magazine of the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences, which awarded him a masters degree in Ecology & Behavioral Biology in 1982. Polistes versicolor is a subtropical social wasp within Polistes, the most common genus of paper wasp. If you carefully watch mud dauber wasps, for example, you'll see they spend lots of time not just feeding on pollen and nectar or chasing predators, but also hovering beneath leaves. We're amazed we didn't have major problems from our latest encounter with wasps; perhaps our immune system has become more tolerant through the years, or maybe we hadn't yet become sensitized to the particular type of venom in the latest wasp stings. 12/31/06--4th year female
After stripping off our wet clothes Susan was able to find at least 14 welts (below right), all of which were beginning to swell and redden. There we scanned the open sky for birds and checked the moorings on a raft we keep at the end of the dock. We draw the line at hosting Red Imported Fire Ants and lace their nests with specific baits to prevent the queen from laying, but otherwise do all we can to promote and protect stinging insects at Hilton Pond Center. It parasitizes multiple species such as P. dominula, P. nimpha, P. associus, P. gallicus, and P. biglumis. Having just returned from a northern California trip (see our past two photo essays), we went out to check the trails and circumnavigate the pond for the first time in two weeks. Polistes nimpha is a eusocial paper wasp found all over Europe, with particular sightings in Turkey, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia. [12], The reproductive phase lasts from the emergence of the first reproductives until the colony begins to decline and new reproductives disperse to form their own nests. The climate in these areas is relatively cold and snowy in the winter, while summers are usually hot and dry, with steppe vegetation. Some species of the epiponine genera Polybia and Brachygastra store honey in the comb, among the few insects other than bees to store honey. Unlike other wasps, P. annularis is relatively robust in winter conditions, and has also been observed to store honey in advance of hibernation. Not wanting to move quickly and further irritate these highly territorial insects, we sat down on the raft and slowly slid backwards toward the pier. Wasp sting! So what's the deal with these stinging mechanisms? They are also often attracted to humans due to loud noises, bright colors, and sweet smells, such as food and perfume. Operation RubyThroat
If we merely pass by an ivy vine it reaches out and grabs us with adventitious roots and smears our skin with toxin--resulting in rashes and blisters that challenge our dermatologist. [5] Typical paper wasps are relatively unaggressive, only attacking humans and animals if they or their nests are being threatened. Apparently, during our two-week absence a big colony of Polistes annularis Paper Wasps (above) had collaborated on building the mother of all nests beneath our floating raft.
Note the Yellowjacket's stinger isn't hollow like a hypodermic syringe but does have a lengthwise groove that likely allows more efficient flow of toxins from the poison sac. A photo (above right) taken at our "rocket ship-theme" birthday party shows of the aftermath: 24 welts on head, arms, legs, and torso; a puffy face; and two ears that looked like cauliflowers. [18] They have also been observed to prey on Chrysomelidae larvae and cicadas. Its diet is more diverse than that of most Polistes species—many genera of insects versus mainly caterpillars in other Polistes—giving it superior survival ability compared to other wasp species during a shortage of resources. P. fuscatus is a social wasp that is part of a complex society based around a single dominant queen along with other cofoundresses and a dominance hierarchy. Polistes biglumis is a species of social wasp within Polistes, the most common genus of paper wasp. Feeding of larvae can involve visible transfers of food, such as caterpillar flesh held in their jaws or invisible transfers of nectar fluids. All rights reserved worldwide. Directed by Bill Hilton Jr., aka The Piedmont Naturalist, it is the parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Thanks to the following fine folks for recent gifts in support of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History and/or Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project.
[18], Since P. carolina nests in sheltered areas, it commonly constructs nests in close proximity to humans, such as the open space under a roof. The cuckoo wasp, Polistes sulcifer, is an obligate social parasite, whose only host is P. dominula. It is also found in northern Africa, Pakistan, Iran, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. Spiders and centipedes deliver venom by biting, a scorpion pricks with the poison-laden tip of its abdomen, and certain poisonous caterpillars "urticate", i.e., scratch you with fine hairs laden with toxin--but unlike hymenopterans none of these creatures have stingers. Red Imported Fire Ants (above) are particularly adept at clamping down and re-stinging, which is one reason they're such dangerous pests where they've been introduced. The P. versicolor nest, made of chewed vegetable fiber, is typically a single, uncovered comb attached to the substratum by a single petiole. NEXT WINTER IN THE U.S. & CANADA .
This species lives in small colonies with few workers and a foundress queen. It is classified under the Vespidae within the genus of Polistes. There, we alarmed wife Susan with news of what had happened, went to the medicine cabinet, found an Ana-Kit, and injected some of that good old epinephrine into our thigh. has teamed with EarthTrek
Hornets do hurt but some ants are a greater problem for folks with insect allergies because ant workers bite AND sting. 08/13/07--after 3rd year female
POSTSCRIPT: It took almost a week to get over the direct effects of our late July wasp stings, and it appears the trauma compromised our immune system. Wasp stings! P. erythrocephalus exhibits a four-stage colony cycle, as do many other Polistes wasps. Wasp sting! We suspect they get this highly contagious disease from their parents at the nest; if they survive infection, young birds apparently develop lifelong immunity but might still act as vectors. Polistes metricus adults malaxate their insect prey by chewing them into a pulp, sucking out and ingesting the body fluids, then feeding the rest of the morsel to their larvae. Emerging from hibernation in the spring, the females found nests built out of plant material such as dry grass and dead wood.
Carolina Wren--5
[18], P. carolina wasps feed mostly on caterpillars and nectar fluids. Ever since we've been very careful around stinging insects and in the field usually carry an Ana-Kit; we've used it to give ourselves injections the two or three times we've been stung in the past 40 years and have never had any major problems--which brings us to our most recent encounter with insects that sting. Mourning Dove--4, Ruby-throated Hummingbird (4)
birds banded or recaptured during the period,
This wasp species has a strong presence in South Africa and has also been seen in northern Johannesburg. Our ring finger began swelling immediately after the wasp sting--we luckily thought to take off our college ring before it was too late--and we soon broke out in itchy hives on legs and torso. [2] They have also been found in Bermuda and Canada, where they are considered non-native. One female queen exercises absolute dominance over all other females, often using lateral abdominal vibrations and stroking to suppress the aggressive behavior of her nestmates. [15] During these visits, foundresses were also observed to lay eggs in other nests. In the case of a Yellowjacket we found and dissected this week, the stinger is pretty small--only about 1.5mm long and much enlarged in our 5X macrophoto above--but the attached poison sacs are capable of producing plenty of venom. Please send an E-mail message to INFO. Polistes annularis suspends its paper nests from cliff overhangs via a pedicel, whose free fatty acids induce the necrophoric response in ants and causes them to avoid the pedicel rather than cross and prey on the nest’s inhabitants. (And we don't even want to talk about our recent near-death experience when the otherwise dependable 1998 Ford Club Wagon van we were driving lost its brakes on a steep descent down the mountain stretch of I-40 from Asheville NC into Tennessee, requiring a six-day weekend layover for extensive repairs.). Nests of Polistes metricus can be found attached to the sides of buildings, trees, and shrubbery.
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