All species within the subfamily Polistinae, including "R. fasciata", are understood to be eusocial. The insects fall into two categories: monogynous, with a single female reproductive, and polygynous, with several. In "R. fasciata", monogyny is said to be facultative. Subordinate females' reproductive capacity is only partially inhibited biologically or behaviorally suppressed. First brood females emerge and mate before overwintering. Males emerge in late May and attempt matings with workers and foundresses. It is unknown if the foundresses monopolize reproduction, and this is an important question as it defines the function of the caste system of this species. Nests are reconstructed and eggs are laid in March. A complication in the typical explanation of eusocial insects exists for "R. fasciata". Since multiple females remain reproductive in a group, the colony must function less like a cooperative organism and a higher degree of reproductive competition is expected. Intercolony relatedness is expected to be reduced in these wasps. "Ropalidia fasciata" and related species construct nests by collecting fibers from dead vegetation, mixing them with saliva, and using this mixture to construct vertical cells. The resulting material has a paper-like structure, hence their common name, the paper wasp. "R. fasciata" often builds additional satellite nests as alternatives to the nest where the colony resides. That way if the main nest is destroyed, damaged, or threatened, at least some of the group can move to another nest. Occasionally, groups may relocate to a new nest without obvious cause. The immature wasps in the colony are moved to the new location by adults. Both foundresses and their progeny will help reconstruct a nest. "R. fasciata" foundresses do not disperse far from their natal nests, and foundresses of the same nest are often sisters. In this species, it has been shown that if many females collaborate to found a nest, it will grow faster and have a higher survival rate than one with fewer foundresses. Individuals in a colony habitually share food with one another. One wasp will transfer nectar or water by mouth to another wasp by regurgitation. This behavior takes place between individuals who have not received any food recently, and the touching of mouthparts will occur even when there is no food to be transferred. Liquid food sharing between individuals typically reinforces the dominance hierarchy in similar species of wasp, but in "R. fasciata" this behavior appears to be a simple nutrition sharing technique or even a greeting, unrelated to dominance.