| Wasps are
social insects and well known to everyone. Colonies build
up during the Summer and can eventually total several
thousand by the time the colony dies at the onset of cold
weather. Only the young queens survive the Winter,
hibernating in sheds and hollow trees etc, to start new
colonies in the Spring. The Median Wasp is a fairly
recent UK colonist, first appearing in 1980 and quickly
spreading northwards. It is a large species and at first
glance distinguishable from most other wasps by the
greater amount of black on the abdomen. Nests are
typically found in hedgerows. The queen (below left) looks very much
like a worker Hornet. Sometimes known as the French Wasp,
Dolichovespula media is widespread and
increasing it's range in Nottinghamshire. Certainly the
woodlands in the north of the county hold numbers of this
wasp. |
