Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua

Landcare-Research -Manaaki Whenua

Other wasps in New Zealand

There are many solitary species of wasps native to New Zealand. They have evolved here with other insects and plants over thousands of years, and have never been considered a nuisance. There are also some introduced species of solitary wasp. As well as Vespulid wasps, two other introduced social wasp are established in New Zealand; Australian paper wasps (Polistes humilis) were abundant in Northland in the 1880's. The Asian paper wasp (Polistes chinensis) was first found near Auckland in 1979.