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Photo#35828
Yellow-haired Yellowjacket - Vespula flavopilosa - male

Yellow-haired Yellowjacket - Vespula flavopilosa - Male
Harvard, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA
October 29, 2005

Yes
A specimen with a dark color pattern, hence less typical than yellower ones;
Can be disitnguished from V. maculifrons by the shape of the central black spot on the 1st urotergite.
From the otherwise nearly identical V. vulgaris by less hairy haead and the tan tinge of some hairs on the sides of the thorax (less so than in yellower individuals: there is a weak but existing correlation between the overall amount of black and the quantity of dark hairs).

 
Thanks Richard
for the confirmation. It's good to get an expert opinion, because the slight variations make them difficult to ID for an amateur like myself.

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