Red-headed Paper Wasp

Polistes erythrocephalus

Red-headed Paper Wasp (Polistes erythrocephalus): Black Body, Red Head, Level-3 Sting

The Red-headed Paper Wasp (Polistes erythrocephalus) is a black, rust-headed paper wasp of Central and South America whose sting Justin Schmidt rated 3.

Schmidt pain rating
3 out of 4
Size
About 21 mm long, slender
Look
Black unmarked body, dull rust-red head, dark bluish glossy wings
Range
Nicaragua to Bolivia and southern Brazil; most common in Costa Rica and Panama
Nest
One open paper comb on a single stalk, often near water
Conservation
Not evaluated by the IUCN

Habitat & range

The Red-headed Paper Wasp lives in Central and South America. It is most concentrated in Costa Rica and Panama and has also been recorded in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and southern Brazil. It nests in sheltered but open places, both in the wild and around people, and seems to prefer to build close to water such as a stream. Red-headed Paper Wasp appears as an Insecta creature card in Wilder TCG.

How to recognise it

It is a slender paper wasp about 21 mm long. The thorax and abdomen are black and unmarked, with the abdomen slightly shinier, and the head is a dull rust-red. The rust-coloured antennae get paler towards the tips, the wings are dark bluish with a glossy sheen, and the legs are black with yellowish knees and feet. Its close relative, the red paper wasp (*Polistes canadensis*), is rust-red all over, and the two were long confused because *P. erythrocephalus* was treated as a subspecies of it.

Nest and colony

Like other paper wasps it chews plant and wood fibres into a papery material and builds an open comb with no outer envelope, held up by a single stalk. Nests are roughly horizontal and are built under the eaves of roofs, under bridges, in barns, under a large Heliconia leaf or on the trunk of a solitary tree, often 1 to 6 metres off the ground. A new nest is usually founded by several females (on average about five), and one of them wins the fights for dominance and becomes the egg-layer. A typical nest grows to around 95 cells. Development from egg to adult takes about two months, and adults live on average about 45 days.

Hunting

Adults are predators that hunt caterpillars to feed their larvae; in one study a colony took on average about half a hornworm caterpillar per day. The larvae are remarkably tough: in one nest six larvae survived 26 days without food or water. Army ants such as *Eciton burchellii* are among their worst enemies and can destroy a whole nest.

The sting

These wasps attack and sting large, slow-moving intruders, including people, that come within 1 to 2 metres of the nest. Justin O. Schmidt rated the sting a 3 on his 4-point pain scale and described it as: "Immediate, irrationally intense, and unrelenting. This is the closest you will come to seeing the blue of a flame from within the fire." (Schmidt, *The Sting of the Wild*, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016). In his 2019 venom study, its venom had an LD50 of 1.5 mg/kg in mice.

Conservation

*Polistes erythrocephalus* has not been evaluated for the IUCN Red List. It is common in parts of Costa Rica and Panama and often nests on buildings and bridges.

Fun facts about Red-headed Paper Wasp

  • For a long time it was treated as a subspecies of the red paper wasp, Polistes canadensis, so older studies often filed it under that name.
  • In one Costa Rican nest, six larvae were found alive after 26 days without any food or water.
  • Colonies are often started by several queens together: on average about five foundresses, and up to ten.
  • It defends its nest at close range: it will attack and sting people who come within 1 to 2 metres of it.
  • In Schmidt's venom tests its venom had an LD50 of 1.5 mg/kg in mice, more lethal by that measure than honey bee venom (2.8 mg/kg).

Red-headed Paper Wasp vs Warrior Wasp

With the stronger sting and far bigger colonies, the warrior wasp wins this card battle.

There is no record of these two fighting; this is a Wilder comparison of two Central American social wasps whose ranges overlap in places such as Costa Rica and Panama. Schmidt rated the red-headed paper wasp's sting 3 and the warrior wasp's 4. Red-headed paper wasps raise their brood on one open comb, while warrior wasps live in big colonies inside a closed nest and defend it in large numbers.

Read more about Warrior Wasp.

Common questions about Red-headed Paper Wasp

How painful is a red-headed paper wasp sting?

Justin Schmidt rated it 3 on his 4-point scale and wrote: "Immediate, irrationally intense, and unrelenting. This is the closest you will come to seeing the blue of a flame from within the fire." (The Sting of the Wild, 2016; Schmidt sting pain index; Popular Science).

What does the red-headed paper wasp look like?

A slender wasp about 21 mm long with a black, unmarked body, a dull rust-red head, rust antennae with paler tips, dark bluish glossy wings and black legs with yellowish knees and feet (Wikipedia).

Where does the red-headed paper wasp live?

In Central and South America, from Nicaragua to Bolivia and southern Brazil. It is most concentrated in Costa Rica and Panama and often nests near water (Wikipedia).

How is it different from the red paper wasp?

The red-headed paper wasp has a black body and only a red head, while the Red Paper Wasp (Polistes canadensis) is rust-red all over. The two were long confused because P. erythrocephalus was once treated as a subspecies of P. canadensis (Wikipedia).

Will red-headed paper wasps attack people?

They defend the nest: they will attack and sting large, slow-moving intruders such as people that come within 1 to 2 metres of it. Keep your distance from the comb (Wikipedia).

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