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wasps

Polistes japonicus is a temporate primatively eusocial wasp species found in many locations throughout Eastern Asia. Its Chinese name translates to "Japanese Paper Wasp".

Taxonomy and phylogeny
There are two subspecies listed under the species name Polistes japonicus: Polistes japonicus formosanus and Polistes japonicus japonicus.

Description and Identification
P. japonicus has an overall yellow body and grows to about 20mm at max. It is often confused for Polistes olivaceus, another wasp that can also be found throughout many parts of Asia. P. japonicus has coloring similar to P. olivaceus, but it is possible to differentiate between the two species due to P. japonicuss straight abdominal markings and brown antennae and legs, as opposed to P. olivaceuss yellow legs and antennae, and curvy abdominal markings.

Queen
The foundress builds the initial colony nest. She will perform work both inside and outside of the nest for the majority of the time before the first brood emerges. Afterwards, the foundress will focus on work specifically within the nest, aside from foraging for nest materials. During colony development, the foundress lays primarily all of the eggs within the colony and performs most of the abdominal wagging, both acts usually reserved for the queen, and performed by the highest ranking colony members. Though queens rarely receive aggression from workers, in some cases a worker will display dominance behavior towards the queen, and may be the one to replace her. Unlike most queens, which would display the highest frequency most of dominance behaviors and continuously show aggression towards the most socially dominant worker, P. japonicus foundresses have been found to focus aggressions mainly towards socially subordinate workers of the first brood and almost ignore socially dominant workers of the mixed brood.

Nest Structure
Nests are found in bushes and small trees, within urban and rural locations. Cocoon caps of pupal cells are a yellow green. Nests are fashioned by wood paste, made from wood fibers collected from trees mixed with the wasps' saliva. These nests usually end up containing around 40 to 80 larval cells.

Distribution and Habitat
This species is found throughout much of China, Japan (though noted as rare), Taiwan, several provinces of Vietnam, and Korea. Specifically, it has also been spotted in Hong Kong, and Chinese Taipei, as well as the Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Ryukyu, and Osumi Islands. It has been reported that P. japonicus has at one time been introduced into the U.S. via Hawaii. Samples have also been collected from the Society Islands Bora Bora and Tahiti, as well as Napuka of the neighboring Tuamotu Archipelago.

Colony Cycle
Overwintered foundresses will emerge sometime in May, and build the nest. Female workers of the first brood will hatch from around June or early-July to mid-July. Males and reproductive females emerge afterwards from around late July to late August. There is usually a small worker presence, with up to about 10 workers and a max count of 50 reproductive adults living within a colony at a given time.

Colony Behavior
P. japonicus exhibits a dominance hierarchy among its workers within a colony. Dominance displayed by P. japonicus workers include rushing, biting with mandibles, and mounting. High ranking colony members display dominance behavior frequently, while those members with low ranks rarely display dominance behavior at all.

In an experiment exploring changes of dominance hierarchies within P. japonicus colonies, workers from the first brood to emerge revealed older workers which were also smaller, to be most dominant. The oldest and youngest workers within the first and mixed brood periods, respectively, often did not become the top ranked workers within the colony. Once the second brood emerged, forming a "mixed brood" through the merging of young and old workers, the dominance hierarchy switched to younger workers carrying the higher ranks. These younger workers were often larger than the older ones. These hierarchies did not occur in every colony tested. Within the mixed brood, higher ranking workers focused displaying dominance behavior towards the worker ranked directly below them. In the first brood periods, workers displayed dominance towards particular workers. Ranking also determined the amount of labor a worker would commit to. The higher the rank of a worker, the more time that worker spent close to the nest, while the lower ranked workers spent the majority of their time away from the nest, foraging. Dominant workers thus live longer overall by engaging in fewer opportunities to weaken themselves physically through constant work and lowering their vulnerability to predation and other hazards by staying close to the nest. Younger workers seemed to move easily up the hierarchy ranks compared to the older workers, due to having larger bodies and being in better condition since having worked less in their lives.

Usually, the top ranking worker will replace the queen when she leaves, though in one case a worker, though not ranking the highest, was still one of the most dominant workers and took over the queen's position. This species is said to be generally unaggressive unless its nest is disturbed.

Brood Care
The first brood is fed by the foundress, and the second brood is taken care of by workers.

Diet
P. japonicus wasps prey upon other arthropods and feed them to their larvae. The adults themselves extract nourishment from the nectar and sap of plants.

New Homes
In Okinawa, Japan, of 1985, overwintering P. japonicus queens had been found hiding within the pupal scrolls of the banana leaves created by banana skippers, Pelopidas thrax. The larvae of P. thrax, introduced into Okinawa in 1971, cut and roll the banana leaves from the tip along the mid-vein, and use the scrolls for shelter as well as food.