Paper-nests
Guides
Vespidae
Hornets, Paper Wasps, Potter Wasps, Yellowjackets, Mason Wasps
A large, cosmopolitan family of wasps encompassing nearly 5,000 described species. Vespidae includes nearly all known eusocial wasps—such as hornets, yellowjackets, and paper wasps—as well as numerous solitary species including potter and mason wasps. The family exhibits remarkable diversity in nesting behavior, from paper nests constructed from chewed plant fibers to mud nests and soil burrows. Social colonies typically contain a reproductive queen and sterile or subfertile female workers, with temperate species producing new queens and males annually before colony collapse in winter.