Skip to main content

Lerak paper wasp (Polistes tenebricosus)

Lerak paper wasp (Polistes tenebricosus) is a species of animal in Vespidae, a predator, living in a colony and making nests, usually close to human habitats which may on some occasions be disturbing even though they are not aggressive insects, but will respond if the nest is disturbed.

P. tenebricosus has a dominant black or dark brown color or light brown ring on the abdomen, a rough, shiny and hairless surface. Big black eyes and triangular scissor jaws. A pair of antennas, wide-ranging, dark brown with black tips.

Dlium Lerak paper wasp (Polistes tenebricosus)


A pair of translucent brown wings with a black bone and several dark brown veins. Stomach shaped water droplets, have five rings with spaces of different colors or the same and a pointed tip. Joints legs have small spines.

Lerak paper wasp has four life stages. The creation phase begins when a solitary female or initial group builds a nest by forming petioles on the roof of a house, stone or tree. The nest consists of hexagonal cells with each cell surrounded by six other cells to lay eggs.

Mother females feed the hatched larvae. The larvae grow into adolescents and take on the role of workers in charge of protecting their mother who acts as a queen until their new siblings are born.

The workers phase begins about two months after the colony is formed. These workers are females in charge of looking for food, caring for new larvae and guarding nests.



The reproduction phase begins when reproductive females emerge from brood cells that are different from working females due to the amount of fat deposits and cryoprotectant carbohydrate compounds. Sometimes reproductive males emerge and the two reproduce out of the nest to mate and form separate colonies.

The intermediate phase begins when the behavior of guarding larvae and gathering food decreases, the number of female workers decreases, individual, aggression in the colony increases and social life in the nest is chaotic.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Infraorder: Aculeata
Superfamily: Vespoidea
Family: Vespidae
Subfamily: Polistinae
Tribe: Polistini
Genus: Polistes
Subgenus: Gyrostoma
Species: Polistes tenebricosus

Popular Posts

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...

Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)

Ranti or black nightshade ( Solanum nigrum ) is a species of plant in the Solanaceae, shrub and short-lived, stems erect or lying on the ground, berries have a black color when ripe, grows in forests, agricultural land and disturbed habitats. S. nigrum has stems erect or lying at ground level, 30–120 cm (12 to 47 in) long, branched, tubular with several linear grooves forming a cone, green and white-haired. Leaves are elliptical to heart-shaped, 4-7.5 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, pinnate base, pointed or blunt tip, wavy edge or large toothed, dark green upper side, pale underside, hairy or hairless and has a stalk with a length of 1-3 cm. Flowers have greenish to whitish petals, curved when old and surrounded by bright yellow anthers. The berries are mostly 6-8 mm in diameter and are green then turn dull black or black purple or red. Black nightshade grows well with a soil pH of 5.5-6.5 and is rich in organic matter. It is difficult to grow under conditions of high temperature and high hum...

Redflower ragleaf (Crassocephalum crepidioides)

Sintrong or ebolo or thickhead or redflower ragleaf ( Crassocephalum crepidioides ) are plant species in Asteraceae, terma height 25-100 cm, white fibrous roots, generally grow wild on the roadside, yard gardens or abandoned lands at altitude 200- 2500 m. C. crepidioides has erect or horizontal stems along the soil surface, vascular, soft, non-woody, shallow grooves, green, rough surface and short white hair, aromatic fragrance when squeezed. Petiole is spread on stems, tubular and eared. Single leaf, spread out, green, 8-20 cm long, 3-6 cm wide, longitudinal or round inverted eggshell with a narrow base along the stalk. Pointed tip, flat-edged or curved to pinnate, jagged rough and pointed. The top leaves are smaller and often sit. Compound flowers grow throughout the year in humps that are arranged in terminal flat panicles and androgynous. Green cuffs with orange-brown to brick-red tips, cylindrical for 13-16 mm long and 5-6 mm wide. The crown is yellow with a brownish red...