Vespid wasps

Vespula maculata
Whitefaced Hornet
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Hymenoptera
Family:Vespidae
Genera
Vespula (yellowjackets)
Vespa (hornets)
Polistes (paper wasps)
etc.

The vespids are a family of wasps, including the social wasps. Each colony includes a queen and a number of sterile workers. They only last one year, dying at the onset of winter. New queens and males are produced towards the end of the summer, and after mating, the queens overwinter in cracks or other sheltered locations. The nests are constructed out of plant fibres, chewed to form a sort of paper.

The baldfaced hornet or American hornet pictured on the right is not a true hornet; rather it is a yellowjacket.


Vespid nest
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