Norwegian wasp
| Norwegian wasp | ||||||||||||
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Dolichovespula norwegica , female |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dolichovespula norwegica | ||||||||||||
| ( Fabricius , 1781) |
The Norwegian wasp ( Dolichovespula norwegica ) is a species of the true wasps (social wasps) in the order of the hymenoptera .
Occurrence
It can be found all over Central Europe, but is more common in mountainous regions. There are hardly any reports of finds from the northwestern German lowlands. Typical habitats are mountain and mountain forests, the species is probably moisture-loving. It often lives in piles of wood, dense bushes, or on the edge of the forest with dense tall shrubs; rarely close to people.
features
The Norwegian wasp has a black-and-yellow warning color that is typical of the wasps . The first two abdominal segments are reddish in color , similar to the hornet . The queen grows to 15–19 mm, the workers 12–15 mm and the drones 14–16 mm. The drawing on the head shield is reminiscent of a spearhead.
nutrition
Workers feed mainly on the carbohydrate-rich nectar of the umbellifers and the honeydew of the aphids . Animal proteins are required to raise the brood , which is done via captured insects , in particular various types of flies , including mosquitoes .
nest
The nest is gray-yellow, the maximum size is that of a football. It is built from healthy or slightly weathered wood close to the ground between grass and roots or hanging freely in the bushes. It has no air pockets and the honeycomb edges are curved upwards. On average, around 200-300 animals populate the nest .
Life cycle
You can find nest-seeking queens from mid / late April. The first workers appear from around the end of May. The life cycle is short and ends around the beginning / middle of September.
literature
- Rolf Witt: Observe wasps, determine . Naturbuch / Weltbild, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-243-1
- Heiko Bellmann : bees, wasps, ants. Hymenoptera of Central Europe . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-440-06932-X
- Jirí Zahradnik : bees, wasps, ants. The hymenoptera of Central Europe . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-440-05445-4
