page_title: Dolichovespula sylvestris
section_title: Description and identification
hierarchical_section_title: Dolichovespula sylvestris / Description and identification
caption_attribution_description: Dolichovespula sylvestris from Commanster, Belgian High Ardennes .
context_page_description: The tree wasp is a species of eusocial wasp in the family Vespidae, found in the temperate regions of Eurasia, particularly in western Europe. Despite being called the tree wasp, it builds both aerial and underground paper nests, and can be found in rural and urban habitats. D. sylvestris is a medium-sized wasp that has yellow and black stripes and a black dot in the center of its clypeus. It is most common to see this wasp between May and September during its 3.5 month colony cycle.
  Tree wasps carry out worker policing and have a haplodiploid sex-determination system; this results in a high level of relatedness within the colony. The workers will take over all of the foraging from the queen once the first workers reach adulthood. Worker wasps typically forage for other insects, the nectar of plants, and wood to digest for nest construction. The tree wasp is sometimes a victim of the nest parasite Dolichovespula omissa, who lays their eggs in the nest of D. sylvestris, as well as individual parasites including roundworms.
context_section_description: Dolichovespula sylvestris can reach a length of 11–15 millimetres (0.43–0.59 in) in workers, of 15–19 millimetres (0.59–0.75 in) in queens and of 13–17 millimetres (0.51–0.67 in) in males. This medium-sized species has the typical drawing of black and yellow stripes of many social wasps. The head and the thorax are predominantly black with yellow drawings. The abdomen is black with transverse yellow bands. The wings are slightly brownish. The distance between mandible and lower edge of the compound eye (oculo-malar space) is the same or longer than width of antennal scape. The large eyes are C-shaped, as they have a strong cut in the edge. At the top of the head there are three small ocelli. This species can be identified by its solid yellow face with a single small, central, black dot on the clypeus, a thorax with long lateral hairs, and two posterior yellow spots.
  This species is less aggressive in comparison to many wasps, but will sting both animals and humans to protect its nest. Nests are made of paper that comes from the digestion of wood, generally dead bark, and measure 10–15 centimetres (3.9–5.9 in) in diameter with an average of 4 combs.
caption: Close-up of facial markings
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