rss fly with an attitude!
Dear Whatsthatbugers,
Looks like a bumblebee but I know better. This robberfly is a resident of my garden what a noble creature it is. I can’t imagine how she (he) captured this red wasp. I live in central Texas (San Marcos) and am curious about just which species this is. Thank you kindly.
Diane
Hi Diane,
Noble is not usually an adjective that we hear attached to an insect, but this Bee Killer, a Robber Fly in the genus Mallophora, is surely befitting the descriptive.
Wasp eating Monarch caterpillar
I finally found out what was killing my Monarch caterpillars, can you please identify him, I think it is a type of paper wasp. I just moved to southwest Florida and am on my 3d generation of Monarchs in a little garden planted just for them. This little caterpillar was getting ready to form into a Chrysalis on the fence when the Wasp got him. I have found the remnants of them before, but have not caught the culprit. While I love my little caterpillar farm, I won’t get rid of the wasps because I don’t think I can support all of the caterpillars the Monarchs lay on my milkweed. We have a population of Monarchs here year round. I will let nature take its course in my garden. Great site, I love it and have learned quite a bit! Also enclosed is a Potter wasp that changed the color of his pots based on his foundation. Great site, I love it and have learned quite a bit!
Terry
Fort Myers Florida
Hi Terry,
Good call on the Paper Wasp. It looks like Polistes annularis as pictured on BugGuide. Regarding the Potter Wasp, we doubt that this was a designer choice based on reading Martha Stewart. More likely the mud that was available at the time had a different coloration. This might be Zeta argillaceum, also pictured on BugGuide, but your photo isn’t detailed enough to be certain.
yellowjacket or paper wasp?
I took this picture today and now we are having friendly fire over if it is a Yellowjacket(?) or a Paper Wasp(?) I hope the picture isn’t tooooo big. Thank You,
Terri Miller
Houston Texas
Hi Terri,
And the winner is …. Polistes Paper Wasp.
Need Id please
Hi Mr. Bugman,
Are these a type of Hornet or wasp please? Out to lunch today (always with camera!) and these beautiful beasts were very busy and didn’t bother us. Same weather conditions as yesterday in Halls Head W.A. I have searched your site but can’t seem to identify them. Please advise and thankyou for the info on the ‘bicolour’ Cheers
Karen
Hi Karen,
This is a Paper Wasp in the genus Polistes. At first we thought it might be a Yellow Jacket, but Eric Eaton corrected us: “That Australian yellowjacket is not in the genus Vespa. Looks suspiciously like Polistes dominula. Eric”
mystery wasp? on milkweed
Hi there:
I photographed this insect nectaring on swamp milkweed alongside ants. I think it might be a wasp, but not sure. It was shot in central Ontario, Canada, where I do a lot of insect photography. In fact I have an Insect Photo Gallery on my website www.beautifulbotany.com — but I can’t seem to find an i.d. for this beauty! Can you help? Many thanks,
Janet Davis, Toronto
Hi Janet,
We thought this might be a species of Yellowjacket, but Eric Eaton set us straight. Here is Eric’s response: “The male yellowjacket is actually a Worker Paper Wasp, genus Polistes, but I don’t recognize the species. Individual specimens are quite variable, and there is some overlap in that different species often share very similar color patterns. Keep up the great work. You have my unending empathy for getting innundated!”
dramatic yellowjacket photos
Hello, I found your site while trying to find a definitive identification for the species of yellowjacket in these photos. Western, German, Californian or ?? Anyway, I thought you might appreciate these photos (taken in Sunnyvale, CA)
Jay
Hi Jay,
While we agree your photos are very dramatic, we do not agree that they are of Yellow Jackets. We believe these are Polistes Paper Wasps. We found a matching image on BugGuide, and it seems to look the most like the European Paper Wasp, Polistes dominulus, but would like to get Eric Eaton to confirm our identification.
Update (05/19/2006)
Hi there, I am a paper wasp researcher, currently working on introduced populations of Polistes dominulus across the US, and I found your site while doing a web search. On your site you have a couple of photos of this species — one with the title “Dramatic Polistes Paper Wasp Photos”, taken 3/23/06. I’m not sure if you’ve already sought confirmation on this, but I wanted to let you know that these are indeed Polistes dominulus females, and they appear to be doing an aggressive behavior called “grappling”, which sometimes escalates to the point where it becomes a “falling fight” as the grappling wasps fall to the ground in a writhing ball. The females do this mostly in early spring when initiating new colonies, which they can do either solitarily or in groups. A group of nesting females eventually forms a linear dominance hierarchy, and this type of aggression may help determine who gets the top spot. I hope you don’t mind my unsolicitied comments! The photos on your site are a great resource, and I thank you.
Sincerely,
Aviva Liebert
European Paper Wasps on their nest
I took this picture of the paper wasps while golfing. They had decided to make their home on the underside of the railing around the mid-course restroom. Grubs are clearly visible in some of the cells of the nest.
Nadjia
Hi Nadjia,
Thanks for sending in your photo.
Hi there, I am a paper wasp researcher, currently working on introduced populations of Polistes dominulus across the US, and I found your site while doing a web search. On your site you have a couple of photos of this species. These are also P. dominulus, not yellow jackets. The first indication is the single, open-combed nest (yellowjackets enclose their multiple combs in a paper envelope), but also notice the brown antennae and slender bodies. I hope you don’t mind my unsolicited comments! The photos on your site are a great resource, and I thank you.
Sincerely,
Aviva Liebert
wasp
Hi,
I am the operations manager at a large retreat Center and Summer Camp in Dallas Texas. We have a tall tower that the kids ride a zip line down. Every Fall these wasp swarm the tower. They are not aggressive, but needless to say, kids running and swatting at wasp 50′ in the air is not good. There are no nest, just hundreds of these wasp flying around the top of the tower. the strange thing is they are just at the top of the tower and no where else.
The attached pics are of the wasp. pic_a wasp are larger than pic_b wasp. There seems to be a equal # of both. I don’t know if they are the same species and pic_b is a juvenile. We have tried wasp spray and smoke to no avail. Any ideas???
Thanks for the Help
Ronney
Hi Ronney,
Your wasps are Paper Wasp from the genus Polistes. They inhabit meadows fields and gardens where they take nectar from flowers and they are often found near buildings. They are social wasps. Several females work together to construct an uncovered paperlike, hanging nest made of wood pulp and saliva. The Audubon Guide to Insects and Spiders goes on to say that : “One female becomes dominant queen. Ist few generations in summer are all females, cared for as larvae by unmated female workers. Unfertilized eggs produce fertile males. Only mated young queens overwinter under leaf litter and in stone walls. Old queens, workers, and larvae die. Paper Wasps are much more tolerant of people and minor disturbances than are hornets and yellow jackets.” Your species is probably Polistes apachus which occurs in Texas, New Mexico, southern California, and Mexico.
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