Polistes dominula (European paper wasp) and Polistes fuscatus (nothern paper wasp) elemental analysis, wing size, and wing symmetry in the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) Metro Area

We collected two species of paper wasp across an urban gradient of lead pollution: Polistes fuscatus (native to our study location) and Polistes dominula (nonnative), and measured their lead concentrations and the lead concetration in soil where they were collected. We also utilized human blood lead data at the census tract spatial scale to test correlations between human lead levels and wasp lead across the pollution gradient. We used measures of wing size, wing size symmetry, and wing shape symmetry to test correlations between lead levels and wasp performance.