Nest-reuse
Guides
Liris
Liris is a large genus of solitary, ground-nesting wasps in the family Crabronidae, tribe Larrini, containing over 260 species worldwide with greatest diversity in the tropics. These wasps are among the earliest emerging solitary wasps in spring because females overwinter as adults. They are medium-sized, silvery-black wasps that hunt crickets as prey for their larvae. Only two species, L. argentatus and L. beata, occur consistently north of the extreme southern United States.
Polistes metricus
Metric Paper Wasp, Metricus Paper Wasp
Polistes metricus is a primitively eusocial paper wasp native to North America, ranging from southern Ontario and Maine south to Florida and west to eastern Texas, Nebraska, and Kansas. It is distinguished by its predominantly dark ferruginous (rusty-red) coloration with black markings, yellow tarsi, and black tibiae. The species exhibits unique behavioral traits including distinctive foraging flight patterns—taking off horizontally for short trips and vertically to high altitude for long distances—and is known for nest sharing with other Polistes species and multi-season nest reuse. Colonies are typically founded solitarily by a single queen, though cooperative co-founding is increasingly observed.