European paper wasp

Males are produced later, and when they start to appear, a few daughters may mate and leave their nest to become foundresses the next season. The switch from production of workers to production of future foundresses (gynes) is not utterly abrupt, as has been considered the case for other species of Polistes. Males are often distinguished from female wasps by their curled antennae and lack of a stinger.

The colony disperses in the late summer, with only males and future foundresses produced instead of workers, and individuals frequently clustering in groups (called a hibernaculum) to overwinter. Hibernation does not usually take place on former nest sites.

Social hierarchies established within the colony can also influence individual P. dominula's longevity. Queens live longer than the males or the workers because the workers protect the queens from predators. The queen starts laying eggs in late March or early April, immediately after the "founding phase" of the newly built nest. Then, the colony disperses in the late summer, with only males and future foundresses produced instead of workers. Although individuals frequently cluster in groups (to overwinter), neither most nonreproductive males nor nonreproductive females survive the winter because their lifespans are shorter than a year (around 11 months) and they best survive during warm temperatures. Queens may survive the winter by hibernating.

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 her. Another way is to remain still while the male mounts, but move her abdomen to prevent the male's genitalia entering her body. Females are also known to mate with multiple males, especially with non-nest mates. They fly over to different males' nests to assess the best-quality males and generally copulate with the resident males. That males are resident males often implies that they are large, sexually active and aggressive – providing better protection for her and the brood.