native across Europe and northern Asia and introduced to Iceland, Australia and New Zealand
Fine-art photographic collection
Vespula vulgaris
A one-queen spring nest that can grow to thousands of workers — and reshape an entire forest food web when introduced.
About this species
Common Wasp
Vespula vulgaris(Linnaeus, 1758)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Vespula vulgaris is a widespread social wasp. New queens found paper nests in spring, workers build the colony through summer and only newly produced queens normally survive the winter.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Vespidae · Vespula
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
native across Europe and northern Asia and introduced to Iceland, Australia and New ZealandBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Woodland, farmland, gardens and urban areas, nesting underground or in cavities.
Workers forage by day through spring, summer and autumn.
Adults need sugars; larvae receive hunted insects and carrion.
Highly social; annual colonies may reach several thousand workers.
What makes this species remarkable?
A single overwintered queen begins alone, constructs the first paper cells and raises the workers that later expand the nest to thousands of adults.
Workers deliver chewed insects to larvae, and the larvae return carbohydrate-rich secretions that help fuel the colony’s flying workforce.
In New Zealand honeydew beech forests, introduced colonies can reach exceptional densities and remove food needed by native birds and invertebrates.
More photographs
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