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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) » Hunter's Little Paper Wasp (Polistes dorsalis) » Polistes dorsalis dorsalis
Photo#17446
brown and black Paper Wasp - Polistes dorsalis - female
Copyright © 2005 Lynette Elliott

brown and black Paper Wasp - Polistes dorsalis - Female
Fort Bragg, Cumberland County, North Carolina, USA
May 15, 2005
Can this be ID's to species?
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Contributed by Lynette Elliott on 16 May, 2005 - 3:37pm
Last updated 30 December, 2015 - 10:40pm

Moved
Moved from Polistes dorsalis.
… Matthias Buck, 30 December, 2015 - 10:40pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Polistes.
… Lynette Elliott, 24 October, 2006 - 11:12am login or register to post comments

Polistes dorsalis, female
The abundant yellow markings (on pronotum, scutellum, metanotum, propodeum, metasoma) exclude P. metricus. Polistes bellicosus is larger, has more ferruginous on the scutum and propodeum, and has predominantly ferruginous coxae with yellow markings (yellow very rarely absent from all coxae). The hind coxae of this wasp are black (can also be black and ferruginous in dorsalis, rarely black with a small yellow dot). Some specimens of the larger P. fuscatus can have extremely similar colour patterns but have the base of the flagellum darker dorsally (in dorsalis often largely ferruginous).
… Matthias Buck, 24 October, 2006 - 8:55am login or register to post comments

Compare P. metricus
I've seen a similar wasp here in Durham:



One reference quoted there has a photo that looks very similar, and is identified as Polistes metricus, for what that's worth.

Patrick Coin
Durham, North Carolina
… Cotinis, 16 May, 2005 - 3:47pm login or register to post comments

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