Vespula germanica

German wasp ( Vespula germanica )

The German wasp ( Vespula germanica ) is a species of Vespula ( Vespula ) and is one of the genuine wasps ( Vespinae ).

Features

The Queen is up to 20 millimeters in size, workers remain with twelve to sixteen millimeters and drones significantly smaller at thirteen to seventeen millimeters. You have the typical wasp yellow and black warning coloration.

As a differentiator to other social wasps carries the German wasp on its head shield, also known as face plate or clypeus, a drawing with one to three black dots or a small straight, often slightly broken black line.

A second characteristic feature of the Wasp is the narrow, only 0.2-0.3 mm wide space between the lower edge of the eye and the upper jaw ( mandible ) base, which is not greater for the queen and the worker, in the male little is greater than the diameter of a Ocellus ( eye point ) to the vertex.

Occurrence

The German wasp is found in almost all landforms, often in the human settlements field. It prefers to invest their nest mostly dark cavities.

Your habitat is usually made of shrubbery along forest edges with species-rich tall herb.

The species is widespread throughout Europe, it also occurs in many parts of Asia and in some parts of Africa.

Way of life

Nest building and statehood

The German wasp builds its nest underground. Their states are only annual. The young queen, who wintered in a hideout with a suitable microclimate, founds the state so alone. It begins nesting in the spring usually encountered underground in mice and moles courses that are later expanded into larger caves; but often even in buildings, for example in trusses. On the ceiling of the cave or the corresponding substrate, the young queen first attached a small lamp shades made ​​of chewed and eingespeichelten, brittle wood fibers as possible. Underneath she works a delicate honeycomb from a number of horizontally adjacent hexagonal cells resembling those of the bees very much. However, they are not vertically, but horizontally arranged, with the opening facing down. Due to the use of superficial weathered wood that is gnawed eg willow poles and wooden fences (where you can watch the wasps good), is the nest of gray color and is different from that of the closely related, similar Commons wasp rotten wood ( rotting tree trunks, branches, etc.) used and thus their nest missed a light beige color appearance.

During the year the of a leafy coat Surrounded construction grows up to pumpkin size, then usually consists of five to seven each other hanging honeycomb. The state then comprises about 3,000 to 4,000 individuals, in some cases, however, quite well up to 7,000 animals. In exceptional cases is reported by huge nests with up to two meters in circumference. In some tropical countries, where the German wasp was naturalized, even perennial nests are found, which can then be even bigger with more than 10,000 animals.

Wasps State

The entire state is organized labor, which means that the individuals are employed either to build their nest, the cells clean, the larvae feeding, care of the queen or the food supply. Parental care is so intense as in the bees. The wasps, however, the larvae get to eat mainly insects.