Polistes stigma | Tropical Paper Wasp

Hey nature observers! A few days ago, I walked along the Alue Awe hills because there were many good macro photography spots there. I remember at that time the weather was quite hot, even though it was already 5 p.m. Luckily, I brought enough mineral water, so I didn't get dehydrated during that tiring walk.

Latin name	Observation date	Location
Polistes stigma	11.06.2023	Alue Awe, Muara Dua, Lhokseumawe City, Aceh, Indonesia

Even though it was a tiring walk, it all paid off when I found a small wasp nest hanging from a Javanese plum tree.

That was an inhabited wasp nest. Yes, there were two wasps protecting their nest, and they greeted me with a wary gesture.

This is understandable because the wasps are vigilant since they don't just protect the nest from enemies; there are also eggs and larvae that they have to protect.

This is understandable because the wasps are vigilant since they don't just protect the nest from enemies; there are also eggs and larvae that they have to protect.

Species of Polistes stigma , or tropical paper wasp, as it is commonly called—hopefully that's not mistaken. Wasps are reddish brown and have yellow bands on the abdomen. This species is common in Southeast Asia.

Here they give me nice shots with their cute poses. This dispels the impression that wasps commonly behave aggressively. But you still have to be careful with them.

Latitude	Longitude	Map
5.128369	97.144954	https://goo.gl/maps/NAUb6wVBQbWN6qDLA

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^{All of the images here are my own work, taken with a Xiaomi POCO NFC smartphone and an assembled external macro lens.}