Does Wasps Have Queens?
WouterIdentifying the queen wasp in a wasp colony is a bit of a mystery. This is because the queen is not visible in the early spring or late summer. Its main duty is to lay eggs, which is only one of many jobs that she performs.
It is also the queen’s job to feed the larvae of the nest. The larvae are fed carbohydrates found in fruit and flower nectars. The larvae can grow to adulthood and reproduce, but they do not have the ability to mate or change their caste.
A wasp’s reproductive queue is long. The queen is the first to lay an egg, which she then hatches into a sterile female worker. After the first brood, the female worker takes over the nest building duties.
The queen is also the first to leave the nest. She leaves the colony during the onset of cold weather. Unlike other wasps, she does not re-hibernate. The new queen sets off to create a new colony.
A solitary wasp may also be the queen. If you see a solitary wasp in the early spring or late autumn, it is very likely that you are looking at the queen.
In a wasp colony, there are usually several non-reproductive workers, a queen, and a drone. Drones don’t mate with queens from the same colony. They are important in maintaining an even distribution of genes. The queen also produces a pheromone, which shuts off the fertility of the nest’s workers.
