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Photo#331721
What happened to its wings? - Polistes dominula - male

What happened to its wings? - Polistes dominula - Male
Fitchburg, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA
September 5, 2009
It looks like it flew through a fire. The wings looked "singed".

Images of this individual: tag all
What happened to its wings? - Polistes dominula - male What happened to its wings? - Polistes dominula - male What happened to its wings? - Polistes dominula - male

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Polistes wing damage
I occasionally find Polistes with the same wing damage.
There are also a couple of other links on the same page with this photo along with some possible explanations.

Probably just didn't develop right
I don't know in this case, but in most cases it's something that happens in the pupa while the larvae is developing into the adult, or emerging from the pupa. The process of the wings expanding to their full, adult size and shape is a delicate one- and can easily go wrong.

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