Arthropods Daily – Issue No. 400 No. 400 |

The European paper wasp (Polistes dominula, often misspelled as dominulus) is one of the most common and well-known species of social wasps in the genus Polistes. Its diet is more diverse than that of most Polistes species (many genera of insects versus mainly caterpillars in other Polistes), giving it superior survival value over many other wasp species during a shortage of resources.
Ancestry Graph
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flowchart LR
classDef active fill:#fff
arthropods("phylum: Arthropods"):::active
arthropods-->insects("class: Insects"):::active
insects-->narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees("suborder: Narrow-waisted Wasps, Ants, and Bees"):::active
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-->hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies("family: Hornets, Paper Wasps, Potter Wasps, and Allies"):::active
hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies-.->common-european-yellowjacket(["species: Common European Yellowjacket"])
hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies==>european-paper-wasp(["species: European Paper Wasp"]):::active
hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies-.->microdynerus("genus: Microdynerus")
hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies-.->tree-wasp(["species: Tree Wasp"])
click common-european-yellowjacket href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies/common-european-yellowjacket/"
click european-paper-wasp href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies/european-paper-wasp/"
click microdynerus href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies/microdynerus/"
click tree-wasp href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies/tree-wasp/"
click arthropods href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/"
click insects href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/"
click narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/"
click hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies/"
„Explained as easy as pie — Why small creatures have big differences“
This article is about the evolutionary adaptation that has led to the impressive diversity of arthropods — including insects, crustaceans, and arachnids.