hornets mating
Hello,
Saw these two mating, the one lying on its back was on top but by the time I got my camera it was in its death throes. Are these Bald Faced Hornets?
Nancy
Richlandtown , PA
Springfield Township (Upper Bucks County)
Hi Nancy,
Your mating wasps are Mason Wasps, Monobia quadridens. They are nonaggressive solitary wasps. According to BugGuide: “Usually nests in wood borings, but sometimes burrows in dirt banks. Sometimes takes over abandoned nests of carpenter bees or ground bees, also Sceliphron (mud dauber) cells. Nest is provisioned with caterpillars, and cells of nest are separated by mud partitions. “