Dave Bevan / Common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) adding material to nest, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK, July.

Ingo Arndt / Common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) detail of nest surface, Hessen, Germany, April.

Rolf Nussbaumer / Black and yellow Mud Dauber (Sceliphron caementarium) female collecting mud for her nest. Comal County, Hill Country, Central Texas, USA, July.

Wild Wonders of Europe / Lesniewski / Wasps on nest, Bagerova Steppe, Kerch Peninsula, Crimea, Ukraine, July 2009

Kim Taylor / European hornet (Vespa crabro) worker flying with middle and hind legs extended ready to attack and sting an intruder threatening the nest, Surrey, England

Kim Taylor / European hornet (Vespa crabro) worker flying with middle and hind legs extended ready to attack and sting an intruder threatening the nest, Surrey, England

David Kjaer / Common Wasps on nest {Vespula vulgaris} Wiltshire, UK

Kim Taylor / Tree wasp queen building nest {Vespula sylvestris}. UK.

Pete Oxford / Paper Wasps swarming in threat display on their nest, Ecuador, Amazon rainforest

Morley Read / Eusoical wasps (Polybia) swarming from the entrance of their nest hanging under a leaf, Napo Province, Ecuadorian Amazon. (non-ex)

Morley Read / Eusocial wasps (Polybia) at the entrance of their nest hanging under a leaf, Napo Province, the Ecuadorian Amazon. (non-ex)

Morley Read / Eusocial wasps (Polybia) swarming from the entrance of their nest hanging under a leaf, Napo Province, Ecuadorian Amazon. (non-ex)