Wasps are closely related not only to bees, hornets, yellow jackets-and ants!. Like ants, wasps are a very highly evolved order of insects (many scientists consider them the most highly evolved) and live in colonies composed of:

• queens, who bear offspring
• drones, or males who exist for the purpose of mating
• and workers, or sterile females who do the colony's dirty work (obtaining food, nest building, defending the nest, raising the young, etc.)

In addition, wasps share several physical characteristics with ants, including long antennae, long legs, two pairs of wings and a narrow "hourglass" waist.

Not all wasps sting. Parasitic wasps feed on other insects and plants. Wasps of this type are not only harmless to humans, but actually beneficial. They help control the population of pest insects such as cockroaches through their feeding, plus play a vital role in the pollination of flowers and farm crops. Parasitic wasps account for the majority of wasp species, and can usually be found in close proximity to flowers or near their nest.

Non-parasitic (or hunting) wasps, which are predatory in nature, feed mainly on nectar and fruit juices as adults. However, they must hunt down other insects in order to provide food for their young, which is why nature has armed them with stingers and venom. Territorial and aggressive, these winged predators are well-equipped to kill both insect prey and ward off intruders -- human and otherwise -- who venture too near their nests or disturb their feeding. While most non-parasitic species tend to be solitary, the ones we humans encounter most often are social species of the Vespid family, which includes such familiar and terrifying characters as the paper (or vespid) wasp, the yellow jacket and the hornet. These species nest in either underground burrows or in mud or "paper" nests built in shady, protected areas. Favorite nest-building sites around the home include under eaves and overhangs, as well as on the underside of carport roofs and open-air porches.

Different kinds of non-parasitic wasps build different types of nests; and nests can vary widely in terms of size, structure and complexity. Potter wasps, for example, construct small, jug-shaped mud nests in trees or burrow into the ground, while paper wasps build intricate, single-tiered nests made up of several hexagon-shaped cells. Like the hornets and yellow jackets to which they are related, paper wasps produce the material for their nests by patiently mixing their saliva with chewed up bits of wood and leaves. The queen starts the nest when she is ready to lay her eggs, then worker wasps continue and complete the job by adding cells as the population of the colony expands beyond the first generation of larvae. A large yellow jacket colony may require a nest that measures more than a foot in diameter.

Paper (or vespid) wasps are a familiar, usually unwelcome, sight. They are brown to reddish brown in color, average an inch or more in length, have long trailing legs and transparent wings. Paper wasps will sting humans if they feel threatened or provoked; but generally speaking, they are not as aggressive as hornets or yellow jackets (nor is their sting as painful or potent).