I hope it's the same spec.! - Polistes arizonensis - BugGuide.Net

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Vespoidea » Yellowjackets, Paper Wasps, and Hornets; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps (Vespidae) » Paper Wasps (Polistinae) » Polistes » Polistes arizonensis

Photo#144997

Copyright © 2007 margarethe brummermann

I hope it's the same spec.! - Polistes arizonensis -

Marana, Pima County, Arizona, USA
September 11, 2007
Size: 2 cm

I went back to the nest site, but of course, it was gone. I found another high-traffic area, probably with a nest hidden behind some prickly bushes. Caught three individuals, one male two females. female shown here.
Matthias, ich habe schon eine e-mail geschickt. Die Wespen erwarten nur genauere Anweisungen um nach Kanada loszufliegen! Ich habe auch ein paar Wespenphotos auf meiner web site: www.margarethebrummermann.com

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I hope it's the same spec.! - Polistes arizonensis - female

I hope it's the same spec.! - Polistes arizonensis - female

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Contributed by margarethe brummermann on 11 September, 2007 - 7:02pm
Last updated 12 September, 2007 - 6:49pm

Yes, I think so.

I would agree with the ID on this. These are not uncommon wasps, though. There were several colonies nesting on the underside of dead palm fronds at my apartment complex (in Tucson), until they cleaned-up the tree:-( I still see the species in the neighborhood.

… Eric R. Eaton, 12 September, 2007 - 3:41pm

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ID correct

Eric, you are rubbing salt in my wounds: I did not find any P. arizonensis on a two-week collecting trip to NM and AZ! Only aurifer, dorsalis, comanchus and major castaneicolor. If they are so common perhaps you can also send some when you ship your Polistes to me.
For what it's worth: these images clearly show the diagnostic characters of the species which can be summarized as this: like a very reddish P. exclamans with poorly developed yellow bands on the abdomen. P. instabilis (which does not occur in AZ) has the abdominal sterna largely black.

… Matthias Buck, 12 September, 2007 - 4:36pm

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More Polistes arizonensis

Eric is right, I was at the Arizona Desert Museum today and saw them there, too, at the base of the flowerstands of Mexican Birds of Paradise. This is more than 10 miles from where I caught the other ones.

… margarethe brummermann, 12 September, 2007 - 6:49pm

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More Polistes arizonensis

Eric is right, I was at the Arizona Desert Museum today and saw them there, too, at the base of the flowerstands of Mexican Birds of Paradise. This is more than 10 miles from where I cought the other ones.
PS Didn't you find any P. flavus? I see those around...

… margarethe brummermann, 12 September, 2007 - 6:45pm

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