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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) » Polistes bellicosus
Photo#234284
Paper Wasp - Polistes bellicosus - female
Copyright © 2008 Tom Bentley

Paper Wasp - Polistes bellicosus - Female
Edinburg Scenic Wetlands, Hidalgo County, Texas, USA
October 4, 2008
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Contributed by Tom Bentley on 17 October, 2008 - 7:36pm
Last updated 3 November, 2021 - 11:11pm

Moved
Moved from red-yellow problem spms, TX. It is bellicosus. Individuals with spotted tergum 2 (and sometimes following) are fairly common at the western edge of the range in central and southcentral Texas.
… Matthias Buck, 3 November, 2021 - 11:11pm login or register to post comments

Maybe Polistes apachus
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1178234/bgimage
… NatureLover, 3 November, 2021 - 10:05pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Polistes.
… Matthias Buck, 1 January, 2016 - 4:37pm login or register to post comments

Polistes, red female (TX)
Perhaps P. bellicosus but the yellow spots on the terga are unusual. This could be geographic variation. I have seen wasps with similar pattern from TX before. Another possibility would be P. aurifer.
… Matthias Buck, 26 October, 2008 - 3:40pm login or register to post comments

 
P bellicosus
I think bellicosus as well. Ive seen images of western specimens which seem to have an extensive amount of yellow, so it could just be a color variation.
… k jkh, 27 May, 2014 - 8:46am login or register to post comments

 
confer SCAN / iNaturalist
For what it's worth, the University of Florida's Symbiotica Collections of Arthropods Network (SCAN) identifies a highly similar specimen from Texas as P. bellicosus based on data from iNaturalist. Further identification notes aren't provided, though, which is a shame.

http://symbiota4.acis.ufl.edu/scan/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=613402
… Jonathan Hoskins, 26 July, 2017 - 4:46am login or register to post comments

 
Red/yellow Polistes
The image you are referring to was taken in the Dallas area. There, another species occurs (whose correct name is probably P. texanus). It is much more likely that this is the species on the image. So it is likely misidentified. Polistes 'texanus' does not occur in south Texas.
… Matthias Buck, 26 July, 2017 - 9:31am login or register to post comments

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