I returned after a very brief trip. The wasps are very placid, and don't seem too bothered by people. Their polydomous nests are very large, and sometimes they cover entire trees in town. I now need to focus on my literature review, and sort through the data. There were also lots of crabs!

I've been back to this nest and it's been completely abandoned. The nest entrance has been filled in. Given that there only seemed to be male alates emerging from this nest, I think it must have been mostly worker-laid males, and their queen was already dead.

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to get back to you with some questions! Unfortunately I'm only on the island for a short amount of time (my supervisor has done some preliminary collections). My project is all about the biology of Polistes balder, and I want the results to be as helpful as possible.

They are the only species of social wasp on the island, and I'm very curious to know if polydomy or something like that is seen in paper wasps. As said, I'm reading Endless Forms and enjoying it a lot, so thank you, and all the best 😁

I'm asking because I'm about to begin an honours project on Polistes balder on Christmas Island, and my supervisor mentioned that last time she was on the island there was a particular tree with a large number of P. balder nests.