The common wasp eats other insects, fruits, nectar, and sugary substances such as soda and ice cream. Its body has black and yellow stripes, and its face has an anchor-shaped mark.
Moreover, this social insect lives across the Northern Hemisphere. They construct their homes using chewed wood pulp in the ground, tree hollows, or hidden wall cavities. During the peak of summer, the population of a wasp colony can grow to 5,000 individuals.
This creature features a painful sting, which can cause severe pain for allergic people. However, they are essential pest control mechanisms, eating insects that threaten crops and garden plants.
Username: Ekpolok Published on 2024-12-12 12:35:07 ID NUMBER: 126692
The common wasp eats other insects, fruits, nectar, and sugary substances such as soda and ice cream. Its body has black and yellow stripes, and its face has an anchor-shaped mark.
Moreover, this social insect lives across the Northern Hemisphere. They construct their homes using chewed wood pulp in the ground, tree hollows, or hidden wall cavities. During the peak of summer, the population of a wasp colony can grow to 5,000 individuals.
This creature features a painful sting, which can cause severe pain for allergic people. However, they are essential pest control mechanisms, eating insects that threaten crops and garden plants.
The German wasp has bold black and yellow stripes and shows aggression when its nest is threatened. Originally from Europe, North Africa, and Asia's temperate zones, these wasps live in various parts of the world, including North America and New Zealand.
German wasps are fond of beer, even sipping from the glasses of unsuspecting people outdoors.
They build nests made of chewed wood pulp in human structures. While people consider these insects a nuisance, they control pest populations by eating spiders and small invertebrates. They also eat nectar and fruit.
Moreover, a German wasp’s sting can trigger allergic reactions in some people. However, they only attack when threatened. Unlike bees, they can sting multiple times, though they are not naturally dangerous.
The Red Paper Wasp is primarily black with some reddish-brown markings and is larger than the average wasp. It lives in the eastern United States.
These paper wasps communicate with others using scent trails and body signals. Moreover, they eat caterpillars and feed small insects to their young. However, adult wasps prefer nectar.
Furthermore, their stings can cause severe allergic reactions, though they are not typically aggressive. Like bees, they are essential pollinators. However, they are also vital pest control insects.
Only the queen and a select few hibernate during the winter, waiting for spring's warmth to emerge and continue their species.
Despite its name, Bald-Faced Hornets are a type of wasp. They have black bodies with yellow markings and white faces, and they build large papery wasps nests from chewed wood that can support hundreds, sometimes thousands, of wasps.
This wasp lives in Canada and the United States. Moreover, they can become aggressive when threatened, though they also benefit humans by eating flies, spiders, and other pests.
The European Hornet features brown and yellow stripes and can grow up to 3.5 cm, making it the largest wasp species in Europe.
Despite its size, the European Hornet is relatively docile unless an intruder threatens its nest. Like other wasps, its nest is made from chewed wood pulp and is often located in hollow trees or concealed in wall cavities.
European Hornets eat beetles, butterflies, honey bees, grasshoppers, yellow jackets, tree sap, fruits, and honeydew. During the winter, the wasp nest dies, and only the queens survive to establish new colonies in spring.
Unlike other wasps, like yellowjackets and paper wasps, Mud Daubers build their nests using mud, hence their name. They also take care in choosing the right consistency, texture, and thickness. One can find their nests attached to buildings or under eaves.
Inside the Mud Dauber’s nests are individual cells that contain immobilized spiders, which the wasp larvae eat. As adults, mud daubers become pollinators, seeking out pollen and nectar.
The Mud Dauber wasps enjoy a solitary lifestyle that balances hunting enough spiders to feed their young and pollinating flowers. These solitary wasps can hum and are not an aggressive wasp species.
Sand wasps create elaborate underground burrows on sandy terrain like beaches and dunes2. Moreover, their burrows have separate chambers to store food for their larvae. Each room contains immobilized insects, such as flies or beetles, stung by the wasp and captured.
Moreover, Sand Wasps practice “sand bathing,” covering themselves in sand grains to regulate their body temperature and deter predators. They are active in the daytime, eating flower nectar.
Like spider wasps, the Tarantula Hawk wasp uses a paralyzing sting to immobilize its prey, including tarantulas, hence the name. Once the tarantula is captured, the wasp brings it to a specially prepared burrow. Then, it lays a single egg on the spider’s body. When the larva hatches, it begins feeding on the still-living tarantula.
This solitary wasp measures an average of two inches in length. It has a blue-black body with rust-colored wings.
Despite their gruesome hunting methods, Tarantula Hawks are relatively harmless to humans. They generally reserve their potent sting for their prey. However, if you do provoke them, they can give you an excruciating sting.
Unlike their larvae, adult Tarantula Hawks eat nectar, with a strong fondness for milkweed.
Before moving on to other types of wasps, here’s something to remember: Did you know that all hornets are wasps, but not all wasps are hornets?
The Four-toothed Mason Wasp are identifiable by their metallic blue-black body with a slender cylindrical shape. They are aptly named after the unique distinguishing feature - four teeth gracing their mandibles.
This type of wasp predominantly inhabits North America, from the central United States northeastern region into southern Canada. They are smaller than other wasps and feed their larvae with captured caterpillars and moths.
The European Paper wasps are not native to the United States. Their bodies have black and yellow streaks, which one might confuse with yellow jackets.
These paper wasps flourish in temperate zones and thrive in human-dominated environments. They create their nests in cavity walls, roof spaces, trees, and shrubs.
While most wasps are solitary, these social paper wasps thrive in complex, cooperative societies.
The Cuckoo Wasp has a metallic appearance whose colors range from blues and greens to reds and yellows. They lay their eggs in the nests of other wasps or solitary bees instead of building nests or collecting food. Once the Cuckoo Wasp's larvae hatch, they consume the host's eggs or larvae.
Moreover, the Cuckoo Wasp has an armored body that can roll into a defensive ball when threatened.
Cuckoo Wasps live in lush forests and arid deserts. Their parasitic reproductive strategy also naturally regulates the population of their host species.
Potter wasps construct small, vase-like nests from mud or clay, hence the name. They carefully mold the material using their mandibles and legs to create a sturdy and protective home for their offspring.
These wasp nests provide a nursery and a pantry for a single egg. Moreover, the wasp ensures that a paralyzed caterpillar or beetle larvae await the hatching wasp for a first meal.
Potter Wasps prefer tropical locales, but they can survive different weather conditions. Their bodies are primarily black or brown with shades of yellow, white, red, or orange.
Additionally, Potter Wasps are relatively harmless to humans and will only sting when provoked. Gardeners appreciate their help in controlling the population of pests such as caterpillars and beetle larvae.
During winter, the Potter Wasp turns its nest into a refuge from the cold. The queen assigns larger cells to fertilized eggs that will become females and smaller ones to unfertilized eggs destined to be males.
Despite its name, the Velvet Ant is a type of wasp. This species was named because the females are wingless and look like ants. However, males have wings and look like typical wasps.
The Velvet Ant has velvety fur with red, orange, or yellow shades. They typically consume flower nectar while living in arid deserts, lush forests, and vast grasslands. They are known as the “cow killer” because their sting is excruciating. If you see one, keep a safe distance.
The reproduction process of Velvet Ants is ruthless but fascinating. They lay their eggs in the nests of ground-nesting bees and other wasps. Once the larvae hatch, they feed on the host insect's eggs or larvae.
Their tough exoskeleton also wards off predators and helps them survive harsh conditions. Moreover, they can emit a loud squeak or chirp when threatened. They can “play dead” to deceive potential threats if all else fails.
The common wasp eats other insects, fruits, nectar, and sugary substances such as soda and ice cream. Its body has black and yellow stripes, and its face has an anchor-shaped mark.
Moreover, this social insect lives across the Northern Hemisphere. They construct their homes using chewed wood pulp in the ground, tree hollows, or hidden wall cavities. During the peak of summer, the population of a wasp colony can grow to 5,000 individuals.
This creature features a painful sting, which can cause severe pain for allergic people. However, they are essential pest control mechanisms, eating insects that threaten crops and garden plants.
Earwig, (order Dermaptera), any of approximately 1,800 species of insects that are characterized by large membranous hindwings that lie hidden under short, leathery forewings. The name earwig is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning “ear creature,” probably because of a widespread ancient superstition that earwigs crawl into the ears of sleeping people. The earwig varies from 5 to 50 mm (0.2 to 2 inches) in length and is flat, slender, and dark-coloured. It has a shiny outer covering and simple biting mouthparts, and it undergoes incomplete metamorphosis (i.e., egg, nymph, and adult stages). This nocturnal insect is usually herbivorous. Several species can fire a foul-smelling liquid, formed in abdominal glands and probably protective in function, for distances up to 10 cm (4 inches).
The common goldeneye is called so (quite obviously) because of its strikingly amber eye that is accentuated by its glistening green-black (male) or brown head (female). This medium-sized duck is a bit smaller than a mallard at approximately 18 inches in length and weighing one to two pounds. From an aerial perspective, adult males are all black with a black head and back, but nearly all white on the sides with a notable white circle on their cheeks. Adult females have an entirely brown head with grayish brown body plumage. Fun fact: The eyes of the common goldeneye change drastically over its adolescence, from dark purple to blue to greenish blue to pale green, then finally to bright amber yellow when they reach adulthood.
Common octopuses are widespread in tropical, subtropical, and temperate waters worldwide. They are also the most studied octopus species. Notably, they span 1 to 3 feet long, including arms. This is short compared to giant octopuses living under the deep sea.
Aside from their intelligence, their camouflage expertise is extraordinary, adapting color, skin texture, and posture seamlessly according to the substrate. Dive deeper into these types of marine mollusks by checking our list of octopus facts and types of octopus.
The Common Hippopotamus, or the River Hippopotamus, dominates the African landscape, ruling sub-Saharan Africa's lakes, rivers, and mangrove swamps.
A male hippo can reach 3,260 lb. Despite its massive size, it is surprisingly fast, reaching up to 22 miles per hour on land on short distances.
One of its most distinctive characteristics is the secretion of "blood sweat," which acts as a natural sunscreen and antibacterial agent.
Male hippos reach maturity at 7.5 years old, while cows are 5 to 6 years old. After an eight-month gestation period, a female hippo isolates herself from the group. It gives birth to one calf on land or in shallow water.
Interestingly, calves fold their ears and close their nostrils as they nurse on female hippos underwater. Moreover, this nocturnal herbivore can consume around 80 pounds of grass overnight. Adults have no known natural predators, but lions, hyenas, and crocodiles endanger young hippos.
Despite their formidable size, Common Hippos are not sociable. While they form groups, they do so primarily for protection rather than companionship.
The hippos are a vulnerable species, facing a population decline due to poaching and civil unrest1. Elephant ivory substitutes, such as hippo teeth, heighten demand in illegal markets. Conservation efforts are vital, yielding slight improvements in protected areas.
Here are five subspecies of the common hippo with differences in their skulls and geographic ranges
The Common Wood Pigeon is a dove species in Europe, North Africa, and southwestern Asia. It has a soft grey body, pinkish breast, and white neck patch. Likewise, it has adapted to various habitats, feeding on seeds, crops, fruits, and invertebrates.
The Common Ground Dove is a small bird in the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. It is adaptable and resilient, often found in open landscapes like grasslands, farmlands, and scrublands.
The bird's feathers blend pink and gray, allowing it to blend in with the sandy soil. Male doves have a pink chest and a bluish crown, while females have a more subdued color palette.
The Common Ground Doves prefer to scavenge for seeds, grains, and small insects on the ground, and their gentle cooing often rings out.
The Common House Gecko is a nocturnal Southeast Asian reptile. These geckos have semi-transparent skin; their internal organs are visible through their skin. Their size ranges from 4 to 6 inches, with males slightly larger than females.
These nocturnals communicate with chirps and clicks. They are also not picky eaters, feeding on insects, small invertebrates, their shed skin, and unfertilized eggs. They help balance the ecosystem by checking mosquitoes, spiders, and other unwanted bugs.
The Southern River Otter inhabits the rivers, lakes, and coastal marine habitats in Chile and Argentina. They have an elongated body reaching up to 3.8 feet and 22 pounds.
Their diet is varied, from fish to crustaceans and mollusks. However, they also prey on small birds and mammals when the opportunity arises.
The Common Yellow Hornet, also called the Sandhills Hornet or the Aerial Yellowjacket, is a native species found across North America. It sports a black body with thin yellow bands and yellow legs.
This type of yellowjacket eats grasshoppers, spiders, flies, and ladybugs. Since they nest above trees, they are mostly targeted by birds and other wasps. However, they can spray venoms out of their stings to defend themselves.
At 3.5 cm, the adult common cockchafer is the United Kingdom’s largest scarab beetle. The rusty brown beetle is also called the May bug because it tends to emerge from its underground home around May.
There are a few stories about how the common cockchafer got its name. One explanation says the word “cock” means familiar, and “chafer” means gnawing beetle. Another explanation says cockchafer is Old English for "big beetle."
Yet another account suggests that the word cock in Old English referred to large size, while chafer meant gnawing insect. Therefore, the cockchafer got its name from its size and tendency to chew leaves and flowers vigorously.
