Ropalidia fasciata, a common
paper wasp, is a wide-ranging species that is distributed from India to the
Lesser Sunda Islands,
Palawan, and
Ryukyu Islands, occupying the northern edge of
Ropalidia’s larger distribution. These primitively
eusocial wasps are unique in that they do not exhibit the strict matrifilial, single-queen social structure found in many species of social insects. Instead, colonies are founded based on associations between several females, or ‘foundresses.'