---
title: "European Paper Wasp"
description: "Polistes dominula — Insetti e ragni. The European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) is one of the most common and well-known species of social wasps in the genus Polistes."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/european-paper-wasp
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# European Paper Wasp

> Polistes dominula — Insetti e ragni. The European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) is one of the most common and well-known species of social wasps in the genus Polistes.

- Scientific name: *Polistes dominula*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `urban` (Città e giardini)
- iNaturalist observations: 106126
- Wikidata: [Q221487](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q221487)
- iNaturalist taxon: [84640](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/84640)

## Names

- en: European Paper Wasp
- de: Haus-Feldwespe
- es: Avispa papelera europea
- fr: Poliste européen
- nl: Franse veldwesp
- pl: Klecanka rdzaworożna

## Countries with the most observations

US (43751), CA (11840), DE (4451), FR (2405), ES (2115), IT (1319), PT (1292), AT (1069), PL (872), AU (791), ZA (764), NZ (744)

## Summary

The European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) is one of the most common and well-known species of social wasps in the genus Polistes. Its diet is more diverse than those of most Polistes species—many genera of insects versus mainly caterpillars in other Polistes—giving it superior survivability compared to other wasp species during a shortage of resources.
The dominant females are the principal egg layers, while the subordinate females ("auxiliaries") or workers primarily forage and do not lay eggs. This hierarchy is not permanent, though; when the queen is removed from the nest, the second-most dominant female takes…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_paper_wasp

## Photo

![European Paper Wasp](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/european-paper-wasp/medium.jpg)

Photo: Alex Pinch · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/313696871

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/european-paper-wasp?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).