Wasps, like other insects, require food to survive and reproduce. However, how long a wasp can survive without food depends on a variety of factors such as the species of the wasp, its stage of life, and its physical condition.
In general, adult wasps feed on nectar, fruit, and sap while they provide their larvae with other insects and spiders. These larvae, in return, secrete a sweet substance that adult wasps feed on.
For adult wasps, the estimated time they can live without food is quite limited. Specifically, social wasps (like yellow jackets, paper wasps, and hornets) often do not live more than a few days without access to their typical food sources. This is primarily because their high-energy lifestyle, including flying and hunting, requires a constant fuel source.
Queen wasps, who emerge in spring to establish new colonies, can survive longer without food due to their larger size and stored fat reserves, possibly a couple of weeks, though this is less likely under active conditions where they are expending energy to build a nest and produce offspring. However, queen wasps typically emerge from hibernation with the arrival of warm weather, which coincides with the availability of food.
Larval wasps can also survive for an extended time without food, since they can utilize the nutrients they have already consumed and stored in their bodies during earlier stages of growth. However, if food supply is cut off before they have sufficiently grown, they may fail to reach the pupal stage and die.
Other solitary wasp species can hibernate as adults and therefore may be able to survive without food for several months, although this is a period of inactivity and not typical of the wasp's active state.
It's also important to note that availability of water can play a significant role in survival time. Like most creatures, wasps can go without food much longer than they can without water.
So, while there are multiple determining factors, typically a wasp under normal active conditions will struggle to survive more than a few days without food due to their high energy requirement but depending on various conditions and species, it can range from a few days to a few weeks.