The pattern of threats against a simulated large-animal intruder is analyzed in colonies of Polistes lanio (F.), P. major Beauvois, and P. versicolor (Olivier) in Trinidad, West Indies. Four distinct threats were identified, corresponding to four of the five threats previously found in north-temperate species: wing raise, leg wave, abdomen bend, and wing flutter. The first three are common to all three species, while wing flutter typically preceded attack only in P. versicolor. Under gradually escalating provocation, threats normally arise in a species-characteristic sequence. The occasional appearance of threats out of sequence is consistent with the hypothesis that the sequence is a product of differing response thresholds.