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198 / Cenozoic
Florissant Fossil Wasp
Palaeovespa florissantia
This robust fossil vespid combines traits recalling modern hornets and paper wasps, and may already have lived socially.
Structured expansion · editorial review pending
- Time range
- About 34 million years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Eocene
- Geographic range
- Temperate volcanic-lake forest · Florissant, Colorado, USA
01 / ANSWER FIRST
What was Florissant Fossil Wasp?
This archive records Florissant Fossil Wasp under the scientific name Palaeovespa florissantia, with an age of About 34 million years ago and a range of Temperate volcanic-lake forest · Florissant, Colorado, USA. This robust fossil vespid combines traits recalling modern hornets and paper wasps, and may already have lived socially.
Palaeovespa had a broad thorax and wide abdominal base like living vespids. Paper nesting cannot be proved directly, but its relationships suggest adults hunted insects and supplemented their diet with nectar.
02 / QUICK FACTS
Florissant Fossil Wasp at a glance
- Scientific name
- Palaeovespa florissantia
- Age
- About 34 million years ago
- Last recorded stage
- End of the Eocene
- Known range
- Temperate volcanic-lake forest · Florissant, Colorado, USA
- Broad group
- insect
- Archive era
- Cenozoic
- Habitat signals
- Freshwater · Forest
- Documented regions
- North America
03 / ANATOMY
How was Florissant Fossil Wasp built?
Overall body plan
This robust fossil vespid combines traits recalling modern hornets and paper wasps, and may already have lived socially.
Exoskeleton and segmentation
The available record is interpreted through preserved proportions, attachment surfaces, wear and comparison with related organisms. For Florissant Fossil Wasp, those observations must be separated from features added only for visual reconstruction.
Wings and sensory structures
Palaeovespa had a broad thorax and wide abdominal base like living vespids. Paper nesting cannot be proved directly, but its relationships suggest adults hunted insects and supplemented their diet with nectar.
Growth and individual variation
A single specimen does not define the whole species. Size, maturity, preservation and possible sex differences are considered before anatomical traits are treated as typical of Florissant Fossil Wasp.
04 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
How did Florissant Fossil Wasp live?
Palaeovespa had a broad thorax and wide abdominal base like living vespids. Paper nesting cannot be proved directly, but its relationships suggest adults hunted insects and supplemented their diet with nectar. This ecological reconstruction is strongest where anatomy, associated organisms and the depositional setting point in the same direction.
05 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
What shaped its ecological limits?
Its populations depended on vegetation, freshwater margins and atmospheric conditions. Changes in any one factor did not necessarily cause immediate extinction, but interacting pressures could reduce range, recruitment and resilience.
06 / RANGE & HABITAT
Where and when did Florissant Fossil Wasp live?
This archive currently lists About 34 million years ago; Temperate volcanic-lake forest · Florissant, Colorado, USA. Fossil or historical occurrence data describe where evidence has been found, not every place the taxon once occupied. Species-level age and range limits still require source-specific review.
Documented geographic range
Temperate volcanic-lake forest · Florissant, Colorado, USA. This boundary can change when specimens are reidentified or new localities are published.
Time window
About 34 million years ago, with the final recorded stage listed as End of the Eocene. Rock units and dating uncertainty mean the true biological range may extend beyond the known record.
Environmental setting
The archive uses the broad habitat labels Freshwater · Forest. These labels help explore related records; a habitat reconstruction requires evidence from individual localities.
07 / FOSSIL EVIDENCE
What evidence supports reconstructions of Florissant Fossil Wasp?
Primary record
Fine Florissant shale preserves a large adult outline, pale abdominal margins and wing venation; social behavior is inferred from living relatives rather than direct fossils.
Comparative anatomy
Preserved structures are compared with close and functionally similar organisms. The method can constrain posture and function, but analogy alone cannot prove colour, behaviour or soft tissue.
Age and locality
Stratigraphy and occurrence records place Florissant Fossil Wasp within About 34 million years ago and Temperate volcanic-lake forest · Florissant, Colorado, USA. Reworked fossils and uncertain provenance are treated cautiously.
Open entity records
Links below connect the archive to available taxonomic and occurrence records. A matching name does not verify every ecological claim, and related-taxon links provide comparison rather than an exact species match.
08 / DISAPPEARANCE & DEBATE
Why did Florissant Fossil Wasp disappear?
End-Eocene cooling and forest reorganization altered prey, flowers and nesting habitat, after which Palaeovespa disappeared from the record.
The last fossil or observation marks the youngest evidence currently known, not necessarily the death of the final individual. Explanations are strongest when timing, environmental change and population biology agree; otherwise the profile preserves uncertainty instead of assigning a single dramatic cause.
09 / FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Florissant Fossil Wasp FAQ
What was Florissant Fossil Wasp?
This archive records Florissant Fossil Wasp under the scientific name Palaeovespa florissantia, with an age of About 34 million years ago. This robust fossil vespid combines traits recalling modern hornets and paper wasps, and may already have lived socially.
When did Florissant Fossil Wasp live?
The current archive range is About 34 million years ago; its youngest recorded stage is End of the Eocene.
Where was Florissant Fossil Wasp found?
The archive currently lists Temperate volcanic-lake forest · Florissant, Colorado, USA. Species-level locality assignments and the full geographic range still require source-specific review.
How do scientists know about Florissant Fossil Wasp?
Fine Florissant shale preserves a large adult outline, pale abdominal margins and wing venation; social behavior is inferred from living relatives rather than direct fossils.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Completed an AI-assisted bilingual audit of the archive record, corrected identified issues and clarified evidence limits; independent editorial review is pending.
- Expanded into a structured bilingual profile with anatomy, ecology, range, evidence, debate and FAQs; independent editorial review is pending.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS