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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Vespoidea » Hornets, Yellowjackets; Paper, Potter, Mason, and Pollen Wasps; and Allies (Vespidae) » Paper Wasps (Polistinae) » Umbrella Paper Wasps (Polistes) » Subgenus Fuscopolistes (Polistes Subgenus Fuscopolistes) » Golden Paper Wasp (Polistes aurifer)
Photo#82107
Paper Wasp - Polistes aurifer - female
Copyright © 2006 Lynette Elliott

Paper Wasp - Polistes aurifer - Female
Thompson Falls, Sanders County, Montana, USA
August 27, 2006
On water.
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Contributed by Lynette Elliott on 8 October, 2006 - 9:35am
Last updated 7 January, 2008 - 1:31pm

Moved
Thanks for the help, I should have known Eric was right. :)
… Lynette Elliott, 24 October, 2006 - 11:10am login or register to post comments

Polistes aurifer, female
This is definitely not fuscatus (note large yellow spots on tergum 2 which occur only in fuscatus males, and largely reddish dorsal surface of flagellum - black in fuscatus). I am not very familiar with the western fauna but this looks like a good match for P. aurifer.
… Matthias Buck, 24 October, 2006 - 10:26am login or register to post comments

P. aurifer?
Reminds me more of Polistes aurifer, which was once considered a subspecies of P. fuscatus. Truthfully, I don't know the range of P. aurifer, other than in the Pacific states.
… Eric R. Eaton, 12 October, 2006 - 6:00pm login or register to post comments

 
Range
I found sites that mentioned them both in CA and British Columbia, so I would imagine they are found here as well. One site mentioned that they are considered a separate species by some and a subspecies of fuscatus by others. The few images I found on the net looked like they had less black markings on the abdomen than this specimen, but there were very few images to compare to.
… Lynette Elliott, 12 October, 2006 - 8:03pm login or register to post comments

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