The mated queens take shelter during the winter and in spring lay eggs and start new colonies. In the tropics colonies continue indefinitely, dividing when they grow very large. Solitary Wasps Among the solitary wasps, each species usually favors a particular type of prey. The female seals a single egg in a nest provided with paralyzed prey on which the developing larva feeds. In many species the nest is in a burrow or small hole dug by the female.
Some wasps are parasitic.
The ichneumon flies are wasps that lay their eggs in the larvae of other insects. Wasps that prey on harmful insects have been introduced in various regions to control these pests. The name wasp is sometimes restricted to the so-called true wasps, members of the superfamilies Vespoidae and Sphecoidae. Wasps are classified in the phylum Arthropoda , class Insecta, order Hymenoptera.