Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Registration is open for the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2023

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events
TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
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#2059969
Polistes aurifer? - Polistes aurifer
Copyright © 2021 Shane Sater

Polistes aurifer? - Polistes aurifer
Sevenmile Creek, 8 km NW of Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana, USA
October 5, 2021
Antennae brown with dark tips. Resting on leaf edge of Helianthus annuus in still-flowering patch. Photos only. Stream floodplain disturbed in winter 2020-2021 by heavy equipment during stream restoration work. Large patches of bare ground, stands of exotic perennial grasses re-establishing, large patches of Chenopodium simplex and C. berlandieri with many ripe seeds, and patches of still-flowering Helianthus annuus and Sisymbrium loeselii. Early night, the first few hours after sunset. Smoky, wind calm varying to light breeze, partly cloudy, 75 F to 64 F.

Elevation ca 4000 feet. Disturbed riparian corridor on stream restoration site within a patchwork of native and non-native grassland.

Images of this individual: tag all
Polistes aurifer? - Polistes aurifer Polistes aurifer? - Polistes aurifer
tag · login or register to post comments
Contributed by Shane Sater on 8 November, 2021 - 5:09pm
Last updated 27 February, 2022 - 4:33pm

Moved
Moved from Umbrella Paper Wasps.

This individual looks like a good match for P. aurifer, our only known native Polistes in Montana - the basal flagellomeres are mostly orange dorsally, unlike this puzzling individual found on the same site a month earlier. Unfortunately my photos of this individual are too fuzzy to count flagellomeres - but I would think this might be a male, since that would explain the choice of sleeping quarters.
… Shane Sater, 27 February, 2022 - 4:33pm login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2024 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact