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Photo#913925
bald-faced hornet in hibernaculum - Dolichovespula maculata - female

bald-faced hornet in hibernaculum - Dolichovespula maculata - Female
Epping, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, USA
April 20, 2014
I wondered what happened to bees and hornets when winter came along. I figured most of the adults died and the larvae and pupae survived in nests.

I turned over a rotten tree trunk that had fallen in my front yard and found this bald-faced hornet, which had over-wintered in a chamber it had chewed in the wood. You can see where it had sealed potential entrances with chewed wood fibers. Beneath where the chamber was in the dirt, was a scooped out hollow in the ground. There is also a sowbug (Oniscidae)that can be seen on the right side of the photo. I did a little checking and found a neat life-cycle article on the hornets http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/bald-faced_hornet.htm

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bald-faced hornet in hibernaculum - Dolichovespula maculata - female bald-faced hornet in hibernaculum - Dolichovespula maculata - female