Paper wasps have an unfortunate habit of building their homes exactly where we don't want them.
Under a deck railing. Inside a shed. Above a doorway. Beneath the eaves of a house. Sometimes you don't even know a nest is there until a wasp suddenly flies past your head.
Despite their reputation, paper wasps aren't usually looking for a fight. Most of the wasps you see flying around during the day are simply looking for food, water, or material for their nest. Problems usually begin when their nest ends up somewhere people regularly disturb it.
Why Are Paper Wasps Hanging Around?
Paper wasps are predators. Adults hunt caterpillars and other small insects that they bring back to developing larvae in the nest. They also visit flowers and other sources of sugar for themselves.
Around a home, that means seeing an occasional paper wasp isn't necessarily a sign that a nest is nearby. Your yard may simply be a good place to find food or water.
Frequent traffic to and from the same location is much more interesting.
If wasps repeatedly disappear beneath siding, behind a railing, into a small opening, or underneath an overhang, there's a good chance you've found the general location of a nest.
The Familiar Paper Nest
Paper wasps get their name from the nests they build.
They scrape weathered wood and other plant fibers, mix those fibers with saliva, and use the resulting pulp to construct a nest. The finished nest usually consists of a single exposed comb containing many individual cells.
Unlike the enclosed nests built by many yellowjackets and hornets, a typical paper wasp nest doesn't have an outer paper envelope surrounding the comb.
A new colony starts small. A queen begins the nest and raises the first generation of workers herself. Once those workers mature, they take over much of the work of expanding the nest, finding food, and caring for developing young.
As the season progresses, a nest that was easy to overlook in spring can become considerably more noticeable.
Are Paper Wasps Aggressive?
Usually, not particularly. That can change when the nest becomes involved.
A paper wasp searching flowers or hunting insects has little reason to care about you. Swatting at it can obviously change that relationship, but simply having a paper wasp nearby doesn't mean you're about to be attacked.
Defending a nest is different.
Getting too close, bumping the structure supporting it, opening a door beside it, or otherwise disturbing the nest can trigger defensive behavior. The risk depends heavily on where the nest is located.
A nest high beneath an eave where nobody goes may cause very little trouble. A smaller nest attached to the railing beside your front door can be a much bigger problem.
Location matters as much as nest size.
Quick Facts
Type: Social wasp
Nest: Open paper comb, usually attached by a narrow stalk
Food: Adults use sugary food sources; developing larvae are fed insects and other animal protein
Benefit: Paper wasps prey on many insects, including caterpillars
Stinging: Females can sting and may sting repeatedly
Colony: Annual in climates with cold winters; new queens survive to begin colonies the following season
Common nesting areas: Eaves, soffits, decks, railings, sheds, play equipment, outdoor furniture, and other protected structures
Commonly Confused With
Yellowjackets
Yellowjackets are generally more compact and stocky than paper wasps. Their nests are enclosed in a paper envelope and may be underground, inside structural voids, or suspended depending on the species.
Paper wasps tend to have more slender bodies with noticeably long legs that often hang beneath them during flight.
Hornets
"Hornet" gets used casually for almost any large wasp, but true hornets and the insects commonly called hornets in North America don't build the exposed single-comb nests typical of paper wasps. Their colonies are generally contained within an enclosed paper nest.
Mud Daubers
Mud daubers are solitary wasps rather than social colony-forming wasps. As the name suggests, they construct nests from mud instead of paper. They may look intimidating, but their behavior around a nest is very different from that of a social paper wasp colony.
What Should You Do If You Find a Nest?
First, consider where it is.
Not every paper wasp nest needs to be removed. If the nest is somewhere people and pets rarely encounter it, leaving it alone may be perfectly reasonable. Paper wasps are predators and can be beneficial around gardens and landscapes.
A nest deserves more attention when normal activity brings people close to it. Doorways, decks, play areas, frequently used sheds, railings, and similar locations create much greater opportunities for accidental disturbance.
Also remember that nests change throughout the season. A tiny nest containing a queen and a handful of cells in spring isn't necessarily going to remain that size.
If you decide to leave one alone, give it space and occasionally check on its development.
Most importantly, don't assume every wasp you see around your property means you have a nest that needs to be found and destroyed.
Sometimes a wasp is just a wasp going about its day.