Common Aerial Yellowjacket - queen - Dolichovespula arenaria

Yes!

Really nice image of Dolichovespula arenaria, the "aerial yellow jacket" or "sandhills hornet." Classic pattern with the interrupted yellow line at base of abdomen, and spots eventually separating from the black bands as the abdominal segments progress to the posterior. Like bald-faced "hornets," these are predators of flies, and very non-aggressive unless the nest is disturbed.

… Eric R. Eaton, 22 December, 2004 - 2:41pm

aerial yellowjacket

Thanks for the confirmation, Eric.

… Robin McLeod, 23 December, 2004 - 7:37pm

Queen?

This might be a queen aerial yellowjacket. Queen aerial yellowjackets have free (totally separated from the stripes) black spots like a German yellowjacket (as this picture shows) while workers do not (as in #6209). However the queens I've seen have free black spots on the second segment. I've never seen one quite like this, with spots on all BUT the second segment. I've never seen a D. arenaria worker with this many free spots.

How big was this wasp? Was it "typical" yellowjacket size or was it larger?

… Andy Wehrle, 26 March, 2005 - 11:00pm

size

I estimate its length at 14-16 mm; I don't know if that's "typical" or not.

… Robin McLeod, 29 April, 2005 - 9:14pm