My research on wasps at Southampton University involved the two commonest species in England: the Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris, and the German Wasp Vespula germanica.
My thesis is entitled ‘Chemical Communication in British Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)’
It was recently digitised by Southampton University Library and made available to the general public to read in electronic format. It can be accessed by clicking this link:
The thirteen species of social wasp currently recorded in the UK are listed below, each with a hyperlink to its entry in the National Biodiversity Network website. Clicking on one of these links will take you to an interactive map showing all recent records of occurrence. There are also photos of each species and a brief description.
At the time of my research (1976 – 1980), there were just seven species of social wasps living in the UK:
Since those days, a number of other species of social wasps have colonised Britain, probably as a result the accidental import of fertilised hibernating queens by cross-Channel traffic. The new species are:
