preworker phase colony without expending excessive energy during the nest founding period or cooperating in the construction of the nest. Once a nest is established, it may be used by multiple generations and in multiple seasons. Nests abandoned during the hibernation cycle are almost always repopulated the following spring. With each succession, the nest continues to grow in size. A few have been recorded at 8 inches in diameter. Multiple nests may be located in the same area within inches of each other. Mating P. dominula wasps have a lek-based mating system. Males compete intensely for dominant positions on the lek, while females are scrupulous when choosing their mates. Males form aggregations on the uppermost portions of structures such as fences, walls, roof peaks, and trees. Males often fight with other males in mid-air or on the structure. Males that lose will fly away from the lek. Females fly through leks or perch near lekking areas to observe males before making choices on mates. Females use the highly conspicuous abdominal spots on males, which are highly variable in size and shape, to aid in mate choice. Males with smaller, more elliptically shaped spots are more dominant over other males and preferred by females compared to males that have larger, more irregularly shaped spots. Social insect males are often seen as mating machines, with an undiscriminating eagerness to mate. However, males encounter costs of unsuccessful mating in terms of energy investment. Therefore, P. dominula males are able to recognize female castes and preferentially choose reproductive females to workers, regardless of health or age. Males are able to differentiate castes through perceiving differences in chemical signals and physiological status. While males are able to discriminate between castes, they are not capable of discriminating between health, as males showed a strong preference for gynes, both healthy and parasite-castrated, compared to workers, because males distinguish females by CHC profiles, which are very similar between healthy and unhealthy gynes. Therefore, males are not able to evaluate the true reproductive potential of the females they encounter. In response to the males being sexually aggressive, females of P. dominula demonstrate ways to weed out the low-quality males. Females are typically larger and more dominant than males, so females exert strong choice by rejecting males. One way they reject males is to express aggressive behaviors such as biting, darting, or stinging to stop the male from copulating with