Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Polistes canadensis - Neotropical Red Paper Wasp

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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Vespoidea
Family Vespidae (Hornets, Yellowjackets; Paper, Potter, Mason, and Pollen Wasps; and Allies)
Subfamily Polistinae (Paper Wasps)
Genus Polistes (Umbrella Paper Wasps)
No Taxon (Subgenus Aphanilopterus)
Species canadensis (Neotropical Red Paper Wasp)
Explanation of Names
Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus 1758)
"Canadensis" is a misnomer: the species does not occur in Canada (likely, described based on mislabeled specimens)
Identification
Very similar to P. major castaneicolor but has the first metasomal segment narrower (in dorsal view)
Range
extreme southern Arizona to northern Argentina