rigid column down the center of the nest and the other is thin ribbon like pieces between the combs. Both are made of pulp and help to give the nest support. The entrance hole is at the bottom of the nest and often has spiraled sheets of paper surrounding it. The entrance of young nests sometimes consists of a long vestibule, or entry compartment, whose function is unknown. This long vestibule has only been observed in D. media and D. maculata species and tends to disappear as the nest matures. It may function in thermoregulation or defense. This species lives in cooler temperate climates and nests in the open so thermoregulation is a plausible explanation, but so far no other vestibule of this length have been observed in species that live in similar climates. A mature nest will house about 800 mature adults between May and October. Come October the males and workers being to die off and the queen hibernates until next spring when she will begin a new nest. Behaviour Foraging In the median wasp foraging activities take place throughout the day and can be done in temperatures as low as . The queen is responsible for all nest construction and foraging until after the first workers emerge from the nest as adults. This means the queen does all of the foraging for about 30 days before workers take over. At the beginning she mainly focuses on collecting fiber for envelope construction, but as the colony begins to develop she allots more time for foraging for food including both flesh and liquid. Workers begin helping with larval feeding and nest development when just a few days old and take their orientation flight at about 5 days old. At this point they begin to take over food and material collection for the nest. These foraging trips can last between a few minutes to one hour, but most are less than 10 minutes in length. As D. media searches for prey it stops for a moment over each flower in contrast to other species such as V. flaviceps which quickly fly up and down each plant. They will fly up to a couple hundred meters to forage for food. Defence This species of wasp is not particularly aggressive. When a young nest is disturbed the foundress will first place her head at the entrance in an alert position. Then she