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Species Polistes annularis

Polistes - Polistes annularis - female another picture - Polistes annularis - female Drinking Wasp - Polistes annularis - female Polistes Annularis - Standing Guard?  (with bonus bug...) - Polistes annularis - female Wasp? - Polistes annularis High Point Paper Wasp (Polistes annularis) - Polistes annularis green goo ball  - Polistes annularis - female Polistes annularis
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Vespoidea (Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets)
Family Vespidae (Yellowjackets, Paper Wasps, and Hornets; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps)
Subfamily Polistinae (Paper Wasps)
Genus Polistes
Species annularis (Polistes annularis)
Explanation of Names
Latin for "ringed"
Identification
Just like the females, males of this species have a red face, which makes them easy to confuse with females, however, it does distinguish them from all other species in this genus.
It has a slender first metasomal segment, it shares this feature with P. bahamensis. But P. annularis lacks the yellow spot on the mesopleuron, (almost always) lacks yellow apical band of tergum and has less developed yellow markings on the mesosoma.
Works Cited
1.Identification Atlas of the Vespidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata) of the Northeastern Nearctic Region
By Matthias Buck, Stephen A. Marshall, and David K. B. Cheung