St. Louis · Community Science Project

Found a wasp nest?
We need your help.

Researchers at UMSL are mapping paper wasp nests across St. Louis. Every sighting you report goes directly into our dataset — no expertise required.

Log a Sighting → Not sure what you saw?
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sightings logged
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community reporters
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this month
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neighborhoods covered
Nest Tracker

Log your sighting.

Takes 60 seconds. Your report goes straight into our research database — and onto the leaderboard and map for everyone to see.

Report a nest 🐝

Found anywhere in the St. Louis metro — your backyard, a park, your building eave. Not sure if it's a paper wasp? Check the ID guide below or just submit anyway — we'll verify.

Auto-filled to today — change if you saw it earlier.

Early in the season (spring), this often equals the number of foundresses (queens) who started the nest.

📱 Mobile users can take a photo directly. Helps us verify the species. Max 10MB.

🏆 Leaderboard

Recent sightings

Sighting Map

St. Louis nest map.

Every reported sighting plotted across the city. Which neighborhoods are blank? Help us fill them in.

Active nest
Abandoned / old nest
Unknown / not sure
GPS-pinned (exact)
Milestones

Earn your badges.

Everyone can earn recognition — not just the top 3. Click any badge to learn a wasp fact.

Top spotter's badges

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Identification Guide

Wasp or not?
Here's how to tell.

Fear is the biggest barrier to reporting. Here's a quick visual guide — and a safety checklist.

Paper wasp nest
Report this!

Paper Wasp (Polistes)

Open, umbrella-shaped comb nest — looks like grey paper. Usually on eaves, fences, or shrubs. No outer shell.

Slender body, long dangling legs in flight. Generally not aggressive.

Yellowjacket nest
Do NOT approach

Yellowjacket

Enclosed, papery nest — football-shaped, often underground or in wall voids. Single entry hole. More aggressive than paper wasps.

Stocky yellow & black body. Still worth reporting the location!

Mud dauber nest
Also welcome!

Mud Dauber

Hardened mud tubes or "organ pipes" plastered against walls or ceilings. Solitary, very rarely stings. Usually metallic blue or black.

Not social, but still interesting — please report!

🦺

How to observe safely

Keep at least 5 feet from the nest — paper wasps are calm but will defend if threatened.
Observe at dusk or dawn when wasps are least active and easiest to count.
Slow, calm movements near a nest are fine — no swatting or waving.
Take photos from a safe distance — your phone's zoom is your friend.
Want the nest removed? Contact us first — we may want to collect it for research!
Why it matters

Your sighting
feeds real research.

Paper wasps are everywhere in St. Louis — and scientists at UMSL are using them to answer big questions about nature, cities, and climate.

🌡️

Urban heat & survival

St. Louis summers are brutal. We study how paper wasps cope with extreme heat — measuring thermal limits and how nest location affects colony survival. Your sightings show us where wasps are making it work.

🗺️

Mapping the city

We're building the first detailed map of Polistes distribution across St. Louis neighborhoods. Which parks? Which buildings? Every location you report fills in a blank on that map.

🔬

Diet & species interactions

We use molecular tools to figure out what wasps eat and how species interact across the city. Nest locations help us sample the right colonies and understand who's thriving where.

How it works

Four easy steps.

No science background needed. If you can spot a nest, you can contribute to real research.

01

Spot a nest

Paper wasp nests look like upside-down grey paper combs. Common on eaves, fences, bushes — especially spring through fall.

02

Log it here

Fill in the quick form. Name, location, and the safety pledge. Takes 60 seconds. Use GPS for an exact pin.

03

We follow up

Leave an email and we may contact you about visiting the nest for collection. You'll be credited as a research contributor.

04

Earn badges

Every sighting unlocks milestones. Click any badge to read a real scientist's note about paper wasp biology.

Behind this project

The Miller Lab
at UMSL

This community science project is run by researchers at the Social Insect Diversity Lab, University of Missouri–St. Louis. We study the evolution, behavior, and ecology of paper wasps.

Thermal physiology & heat tolerance
Facial color variation & phenotypic diversity
Molecular diet & species interactions
Species co-existence & community ecology
Genome evolution & population genetics

socialinsectdiversitylab.com

Full lab site — publications, team, and research details

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