| Median wasp | |
|---|---|
| male D. media | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Hexapoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Vespidae |
| Genus: | Dolichovespula |
| Species: | D. media |
| Binomial name | |
| Dolichovespula media Retzius 1783 |
|
The median wasp, Dolichovespula media, is a wasp of the genus Dolichovespula native to Europe. Aside from its black-and-yellow coloration, it is very similar to Dolichovespula maculata, the bald-faced hornet, which is found in the USA, Alaska and Canada.
The highly active workers need mainly only carbohydrates. So adults collect nectar from flowers. For the queen and to feed their young larvae, they hunt many kind of insects — like flies and other wasps.
Their nests usually hang from tree or bush branches, and they can be aggressive in defence of them.
Although their nest's life cycle is short, future queens ("gynes") can survive through the winter, and the result is multiple egglaying queens that abandon the mother nest in search for a new nest.