Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Photo#35631
Baldfaced Hornet - worker - Dolichovespula maculata - female

Baldfaced Hornet - worker - Dolichovespula maculata - Female
Alpine Loop, Utah County, County, Utah, USA
September 28, 2005
Size: under 1 inch

Wow, you guys are good. Found
Wow, you guys are good. Found the scientific name and an example. Vespidae Vespinae Dolichovespula maculata, Male Baldfaced Hornet. Now if I could figure out how to move it to the right place in this web site, I'd do it.

Thanks so much,

Nicky

 
Moving photos
Just click on the "tag" link below your photo and the go to the correct section of the guide and go the "images" page a click the "move tagged images" link.

I think
I think this is a bald-faced horet, but Im no expert and theres so many species of similar looking hornets that I could be wrong. Consider yourself lucky if all they did was bite you because they pack a pretty nasty sting to boot.

 
You're right
This is indeed a bald-faced Hornet,a dark colored worker with all-black mesoscutellum. The shining cuticle and the damaged wings indicate an aging individual.
An interesting occurence from a Western State, probably from an highland region rather than from the surrounds of Salt Lake city?
Although a formidable killer for many other insects (see several pictures in this Guide), this wasp is not so nasty towards people unless its nest is disturbed.

 
Bald-faced Hornet
Yes, this individual was in an Alpine region in back of Timpanogos Mountain that we call the Alpine Loop. A great place for all kinds of "critters" from butterflies to deer, even a cougar if you are so blessed. I wouldn't have been so close had I known it was a hornet. I thought it was merely some kind of Deerfly. I liked the markings on his abdomen so I took the shot. This one didn't bite me at all but there are a lot of biting deerfly in that area. What's his scientific name?