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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets (Vespoidea) » Yellowjackets, Paper Wasps, and Hornets; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps (Vespidae) » Hornets and Yellowjackets (Vespinae) » Dolichovespula
Photo#320460
Can an identification be made from this nest? - Dolichovespula
Copyright © 2009 Claire

Can an identification be made from this nest? - Dolichovespula
10 miles west of Shelton at Hanks Lake., Mason County, Washington, USA
We found this on the underside of our deck railing in early summer of 2009 when we took the railing down to replace it. The nest was abandoned when we found it. It is almost perfectly spherical with apparently two more spheres inside. It's about 60 mm in diameter and the small hole is about 8 mm in diameter. Can insects be identified from the nests that they leave?
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Contributed by Claire on 15 August, 2009 - 12:06pm
Last updated 17 September, 2009 - 10:17pm

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Harsi S. Parker, 17 September, 2009 - 10:17pm login or register to post comments

Dolichovespula maculata
theyre quite common
… Jody Anderson, 16 August, 2009 - 7:13pm login or register to post comments

 
Why not D. arenaria?
I agree that this is the nest of a Dolichovespula, but I'm curious how you're ruling out aerial yellowjackets. As Stephen suggested, this is the earlier stage of what was supposed to be a much larger nest. It was likely aborted because something happened to the queen. To answer the broader question, yes, many insect nests can easily be identified. Some of the less distinctive ones can be sorted out by doing a little detective work, such as dissecting them and looking at prey remains.
… Charley Eiseman, 16 August, 2009 - 9:42pm login or register to post comments

 
aborted nests
We see a lot of what I take to be Bald-faced hornet nests of about this size on the ground, blown out of trees during wind storms.
… Stephen Hart, 16 August, 2009 - 10:38pm login or register to post comments

Possibly
Wait for an expert, but I'd suggest one of the yellowjackets or the bald-faced hornet. Both build paper nests, often on eaves or the undersides of decks (and branches).

This may represent the early stage. They start with a golf-ball-sized sphere, sometimes with a tubular opening, then add layers of paper. Some species have two generations during a summer. The nests can get quite large over a summer, maybe a foot in diameter, with many openings. The shape ends up going far from spherical.
… Stephen Hart, 15 August, 2009 - 12:28pm login or register to post comments

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