The ends of the cells are open with the heads of the larvae exposed to view. New to Ohio in 1991, the dominulus paper wasp is somewhat smaller than our native northern paper wasp. It is black with bright, yellow stripes and spots resembling yellowjacket wasps in color. Also, the cells are not exposed to view. Life Cycle and Habits Paper wasps and hornets are social insects, living in colonies containing workers, queens and males.
Colonies are annual with only inseminated queens overwintering.
Fertilized queens occur in protected places such as houses and other structures, hollow logs, in stumps, under bark, in leaf litter, in soil cavities, etc. Queens emerge during the warm days of late April or early May, select a nest site and build a small paper nest in which eggs are laid. One egg is laid in each cell. As she adds more cells around the edge, eggs are deposited. Larvae in the center are older with the younger larvae further out.