 Workers first emerge between May and July . During this first emergence , reproductive males also emerge with this first brood and are called the early males . These males provide a great adaptation because they allow for the presence of reproductive males . Nests with a greater number of early males produce a greater number of workers , cells , pupae , and emergences . Although it is uncertain as to why , queen deaths are common in Polistes exclamans , most frequently in May . The majority of original queens are dead by July , “ well before eggs that became autumn reproductive were laid , ” as reproductives emerged from late August through September . Thus , queens must remain alive post June in order to birth future reproductives , and if they are not able to do so , the eldest former worker then becomes the new queen . The reproductive early males produced may be adaptive for the deaths of the queens so that the colony will not die and will be able to continue . 
