Wood wasp
| Wood wasp | ||||||||||||
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Wood wasp ( Dolichovespula sylvestris ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dolichovespula sylvestris | ||||||||||||
| ( Scopoli , 1763) |
The wood wasp ( Dolichovespula sylvestris ) is a real wasp from the genus of the long-headed wasps ( Dolichovespula ).
features
The queens of this species reach a body length of 15 to 19 millimeters, workers are 13 to 15 millimeters long, drones 14 to 16 millimeters. The drawing on the clypeus is only slightly variable. The species can only be clearly distinguished from the other long-headed wasps by genital examinations .
Occurrence
The species occurs in North Africa, Europe and Asia. The northern distribution extends to the south of Scandinavia. Wood wasps populate light forests, but also open habitats and human settlement areas. The animals fly from the beginning of May to mid-September, with workers appearing from the end of May, and queens and drones of the new generation from mid-July.
Way of life
Like the Saxon wasp ( Dolichovespula saxonica ), the wood wasps lay their nests freely hanging in protected places and also in or on houses, attics, etc. Occasionally they are also created in bushes and burrows. The gray colored nests are made of weathered wood and reach a diameter of up to 25 centimeters. They consist of separate ring segments and have no air pockets. The nests usually consist of three to six honeycombs, the edges of which are bent up, and up to 900 cells. A maximum of about 800 individuals colonize a nest, of which about 300 are workers. The wood wasp population develops relatively quickly. The species is parasitized by the forest cuckoo wasp ( Dolichovespula omissa ) .
supporting documents
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : bees, wasps, ants. Hymenoptera of Central Europe . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-440-06932-X
- Rolf Witt: Wasps. Observe, determine. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-243-1 .
