Small brown paper wasp

Appearance

"R. revolutionalis" are small, dark, reddish brown wasps with body lengths of 8 to 10 mm. When viewed closely, they have remarkable patterns on their bodies, and they have eyes with multiple lenses. They are slightly smaller than species from the family of "Polistes". This is because their abdomens have a segment after the waist that is slimmer than the following segment. Although these wasps are not considered especially aggressive, they will sting if their nests are disturbed.

Distribution

Also known as the Stick-Nest Paper Wasp, the nests of the "R. revolutionalis" consist of several combs each about 100 mm long with two columns of cells that resemble sticks hanging from a branch.

Their nests are usually found on shrubs, hanging baskets, under eaves, or near other sheltered areas. These wasps are found mainly in south-eastern to northern Queensland, Australia.

Reproduction

Each larva of the "R. revolutionalis" is kept in an individual cell in the nest. Each of these cells has a transparent bottom where the workers remove feces from the cell. Foragers return to the nest with caterpillars and other soft bodied insects. Before presenting food to the larvae, they drum their heads on the inside of the cell. Females rear the young into August even as the nest deteriorates, and the larvae eventually pupate and become adult wasps.Sometimes eggs laid by subordinate females are eaten by dominant females, but multiple females can still lay eggs after the colony has reached the post-emergence stage. Also, there is usually one primary dominant reproducer,
and that producer stays in the nest and sits on capped cells containing pupae.

Food

Females exchange food either by facing each other and engaging in trophallaxis or in some cases by mounting another female and bending over her thorax to transfer food. The reproductive females solicit the most frequently.

Defense

If a member of either sex of "R. revolutionalis" feels threatened, the wasp assumes a defensive position on the nest. It will warn the intruder to retreat by first lifting and spreading its wings, and then waving its front legs and sometimes shaking its body. If the threat does not go away, the wasp will then fly at and often sting the intruder.