VARIETIES OF WASP SOCIETY 



The social wasps described in the previous chapter are 

 familiar because they are common in those parts of the world 

 in which most naturalists live. In other parts of the world, 

 especially in the tropics, several other groups are found. 

 Two of these groups, the Polistes wasps and the Polybiine, 

 wasps, are of special interest because of the light they throw 

 on the nature of social life and on its probable mode of origin 

 in the family. 



THE POLISTES WASPS 



The Polistes wasps are found almost everywhere, both in 

 temperate and in tropical climates. Though common in 

 North America and in Western Europe, they do not occur 

 in Britain except as an accidental introduction. They have 

 been much studied, since the whole history of the colony 

 can be followed with ease. This is because the nest is small, 

 is suspended above the ground, and is not surrounded by an 

 envelope. The European species build a nest rather like a 

 single, irregular wasp-comb, usually of less than one 

 hundred cells, but occasionally in the south with up to five 

 hundred. 



In temperate climates the life-history is like that of the 

 common wasp. In external appearance the workers can 

 hardly be distinguished from the queen except by their 

 behaviour. It is, however, possible to mark each individual 



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