Paper Wasps

General Description
Paper wasps are perhaps the most common wasps around structures. They also are known as “umbrella wasps” because their nests look like umbrellas hanging upside-down from eaves and overhangs. There are many species, but the typical paper wasp is up to three-fourths of an inch long, reddish-brown in color with a long, cylindrical abdomen. A paper wasp nest is a single comb of hexagonal cells made of a papery material the wasps form by chewing wood and mixing it with saliva. Larger nests can harbor as many as 75 paper wasps including larvae and pupae developing within the cells.

General Control
See general control of wasps and bees at the beginning of this section.