Warrior Wasp

Synoeca septentrionalis

Warrior Wasp (Synoeca septentrionalis): A Level-4 Sting and a Drumming Nest

The Warrior Wasp (Synoeca septentrionalis) is a 2 cm blue-black social wasp from Mexico to South America whose sting Justin Schmidt rated 4, the top of his pain scale.

Schmidt pain rating
4 out of 4; pain lasts up to about 2 hours
Size
About 20 mm long
Habitat
Tropical forest; nests built flat on tree trunks or rock
Range
Mexico to Panama, NW South America, Brazil's Atlantic Forest
Colony
Founded by swarms of 52–140 adults; up to 865 adults recorded
Conservation
Not evaluated by the IUCN

Habitat & range

The Warrior Wasp is a Neotropical social wasp found from Mexico through Central America to Panama and into north-western South America, including Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Its range reaches further north than any other species in the genus *Synoeca*. In 2011 researchers also reported nests from the Atlantic Forest of Bahia and Espírito Santo in eastern Brazil, far from the rest of its known range. Colonies build on the surface of tree trunks and limbs, and sometimes on rock faces; nests have been found between 1.7 and 6 metres above the ground. Warrior Wasp appears as an Insecta creature card in Wilder TCG.

The armadillo nest

A warrior wasp nest is a single comb of brood cells built directly onto the bark, then covered with one layer of paper envelope. The envelope has a domed, ribbed surface, which is why the species is also called the armadillo wasp. *S. septentrionalis* nests usually have two entrance holes, and the wasps tend to use one as an entrance and the other as an exit. A colony starts when a swarm of 52 to 140 adults arrives at a new site and builds a comb of around 200 cells; the largest colony studied in Brazil held 865 adults and more than 1,400 cells. Nests often have two or three lobes, but nests with nine lobes spanning over three metres have been reported.

Behavior & adaptations

This is a swarm-founding wasp: new colonies are started by a group of workers and several queens rather than by a single queen. On the move, workers lay scent trails by rubbing their gasters on leaves and twigs between the old and new nest sites. A colony can hold anywhere from a few to dozens of queens, and queens and workers look identical from the outside. Defence is a group effort. When disturbed, the wasps drum by scraping their mandibles across the nest walls, a sound shared by all *Synoeca*, then many workers leave the nest and raise their gasters in a threat display called gaster-flagging before stinging. Army ants are major predators of paper wasps, and warrior wasps have been seen piling their bodies against the nest entrance to keep raiders out.

The sting

Entomologist Justin O. Schmidt rated the warrior wasp's sting a 4 on his sting pain scale, a level he gave to only three insects, and described it as: "Torture. You are chained in the flow of an active volcano. Why did I start this list?" (Schmidt, *The Sting of the Wild*, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016). He reported that the pain lasts up to about two hours. On Christopher Starr's separate sting pain scale it also scored the maximum 4, meaning traumatically painful.

Conservation

*Synoeca septentrionalis* has not been evaluated for the IUCN Red List. Researchers describe warrior wasps as locally common but little studied; a 2018 study of its colony life noted that research on the group was only just starting.

Fun facts about Warrior Wasp

  • Justin Schmidt rated its sting a 4, the highest level on his pain scale, alongside the bullet ant and the tarantula hawk.
  • Its nickname, armadillo wasp, comes from the ribbed paper envelope that covers the nest like an armadillo's armour.
  • When the nest is disturbed, the wasps scrape their mandibles on the inside of the envelope, making a drumming alarm sound before they pour out.
  • Queens and workers look the same from the outside; a 2018 study found the difference is chemical, in the waxy hydrocarbons that coat their bodies.
  • Montezuma oropendolas in Costa Rica tend to nest in trees that also hold warrior wasp colonies, apparently for protection.

Warrior Wasp vs European Mantis

Near its nest, the warrior wasp's group defence and level-4 sting would likely win the card battle against a lone mantis.

These two never meet in the wild: the European mantis lives in Europe, Asia and North America, while the warrior wasp lives in tropical Central and South America. This is a Wilder comparison of weapons. A mantis is an ambush hunter that grabs prey with spiny front legs. A lone warrior wasp is about 2 cm long and armed with one of the most painful stings Justin Schmidt ever recorded, and near its nest it rarely fights alone, since disturbed colonies pour out and sting as a group.

Read more about European Mantis.

Common questions about Warrior Wasp

How painful is a warrior wasp sting?

Among the worst known. Justin Schmidt rated it 4, the top of his pain scale, and wrote: "Torture. You are chained in the flow of an active volcano. Why did I start this list?" (The Sting of the Wild, 2016). He reported pain lasting up to about two hours (NHM London; Schmidt sting pain index). Compare the Bullet Ant and Tarantula Hawk Wasp, the other two insects he rated 4.

Why is Synoeca septentrionalis called the armadillo wasp?

Because of its nest. The colony builds its comb flat against a tree trunk or rock and covers it with a domed paper envelope with a ribbed surface that looks like an armadillo's armour (Santos et al. 2018; Wikipedia).

What do warrior wasps do when their nest is disturbed?

They sound the alarm, then attack as a group. Workers scrape their mandibles across the nest wall to make a drumming sound, many leave the nest and raise their abdomens in a threat display called gaster-flagging, and then they sting (Wikipedia, citing O'Donnell et al. 1997).

Where do warrior wasps live?

In tropical America. S. septentrionalis ranges from Mexico through Central America to north-western South America, and nests have also been found in Brazil's Atlantic Forest in Bahia and Espírito Santo (Santos et al. 2018; Menezes et al. 2011).

How many wasps live in a warrior wasp colony?

Hundreds. New colonies are founded by swarms of 52 to 140 adults, and the largest colony in a Brazilian study held 865 adults and more than 1,400 brood cells, with anywhere from 3 to 58 queens per colony (Santos et al. 2018).

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