Wasp
The largest social wasp is the Asian giant hornet, at up to in length. The various tarantula hawk wasps are of a similar size and can overpower a spider many times its own weight, and move it to its burrow, with a sting that is excruciatingly painful to humans. The solitary giant scoliid, "Megascolia procer", with a wingspan of 11.5 cm, has subspecies in Sumatra and Java; it is a parasitoid of the Atlas beetle "Chalcosoma atlas". The female giant ichneumon wasp "Megarhyssa macrurus" is long including its very long but slender ovipositor which is used for boring into wood and inserting eggs. The smallest wasps are solitary chalcid wasps in the family Mymaridae, including the world's smallest known insect, "Dicopomorpha echmepterygis" (139 micrometres long) and "Kikiki huna" with a body length of only 158 micrometres, the smallest known flying insect.
Polistes biglumis
This species resides mainly in mountainous zones in Southern Europe, and it is the only paper wasp that inhabits a mountainous clime. Due to its divergence from the more common temperate climes of its genus, it has developed several distinctions from other paper wasps that arise mainly from selective pressure due to the severe climate it commonly experiences. The climate shortens the nesting season of "P. biglumis" to around four months. In addition, the nests exhibit darker coloration, which allows them to absorb more heat from the sun. Workers are also often nonexistent in some populations of "P. biglumis", which demonstrates a large dichotomy from other social wasps, whose most commonly seen specimens are the workers. Finally, because of the reduced nesting season as well as parasitism by other wasps, "P. biglumis" has developed nesting strategies that are both distinct from other paper wasps and variable among conspecific populations."Polistes biglumis" can reach a length of up to (queen), (workers), (males). It is a larger species of wasp in comparison to its relatives in "Polistes". It also exhibits darker coloration than that of other paper wasps; it has a black petiole for both sexes. The females exhibit black abdomens as well, with rare yellow spots. Males, however, have largely yellow abdomens. Adult wasps can be distinguished from the young because they are darkly colored and can fly, whereas young wasps have paler stripes and are flightless.