The European paper wasp (Polistes dominula, often misspelled as dominulus) is one of the most common and well-known species of social wasps in the genus Polistes. Its diet is more diverse than that of most Polistes species (many genera of insects versus mainly caterpillars in other Polistes), making it superior over many others during the shortage of resources. The dominant females (queens) are the principal egg layers, while the subordinate females ("auxiliaries") primarily forage and do not lay eggs. This hierarchy is not permanent, though; when the queen (alpha-female) is removed from the nest, the second-most dominant female (beta-female) displaces the role of the previous queen. Dominance in females is determined by the severity of the scatteredness in the coloration of the clypeus (f