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Photo#1188612
Mixed vespids? - Polistes

Mixed vespids? - Polistes
San Luis NWR, Merced County, California, USA
January 29, 2016
Size: est 30mm
These seemingly docile/lethargic wasps had nested in a pamphlet box. There were more inside the box, this is the open lid. There were small pieces of paper nest (cells) at the bottom of the box.
They were mostly the orange/yellow ones, but there were a few of the black/yellow ones.

It was overcast, and 60F. There may have been more of them that flew off; someone else had opened the box.
After we left to drive another area there, I found one of the orange ones on my pants, in the car.

Images of this individual: tag all
Mixed vespids? - Polistes Mixed vespids? - Polistes Mixed vespids? - Polistes Mixed vespids? - Polistes Mixed vespids? - Polistes

Moved

Overwintering cluster
Two species indeed: the red ones are Polistes dorsalis californicus, the black and yellow one is P. aurifer. They were lethargic because they are hibernating. In the spring, they will disperse and start new nests.

 
Is it a usual thing for diffe
Is it a usual thing for different species to hibernate together?

 
Hibernation
Maybe not usual but definitely not exceptional, either. Polistes females look for sheltered places in the fall to hibernate, and often several end up in the same place.

Moved

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

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