Surprising Enemies of Paper Wasps

Black-capped chickadee (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

21 August 2020:

The presence of European paper wasps (Polistes dominula) can be daunting until you realize they have enemies. Birds eat their larvae right out of the nest. Gerardine Baugh discovered this while watching a chickadee at a wasp’s nest outside her window.

Who knew that a chickadee would be so brave when confronted by a wasp?

p.s. If you missed it, learn more about European paper wasps in this week’s article.

And there’s good news from Ohio: When European paper wasps first arrived in Ohio they supplanted native paper wasps. Now that trend has reversed.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons; video by Geradine Baugh)

4 thoughts on “Surprising Enemies of Paper Wasps

  1. They also consider carpenter ants as desert. We had a problem one year and I would just open the sliders and they would fly in and out and clean up the problem instantly and effectively. At no other time would the chickadees come so close. Enjoy you Kate.

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