We spent August in Volcano, Hawaii investigating a species of yellowjacket wasps, Vespula pensylvanica, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park along with the Wilson-Rankin lab from University of California Riverside. These wasps are damaging and invasive to the Hawaiian islands, where they frequently form large, perennial, polygynous (= multi-queen) colonies. Contrasting this, the same species is found in Washington and California, but here they form mostly annual, monogynous (= single queen) colonies. The goal of our trip was to find yellowjacket nests, collect workers, excavate some nests, and set up experiments that will monitor the nests long-term. The overarching aim of this study is to better understand why the invasive nests in Hawaii have multiple queens and last for many years compared to those on the mainland U.S. This is a unique system in the insect world, so we took advantage of the opportunity to study it. We hope to be able to make predictions as to when and which colonies may become perennial, which will inform park managers on how to best control them.

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