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Bald-faced hornet
Dolichovespula maculata
47.309, -122.321
Field Notes
Description:
Baldfaced hornets are distinguished from other yellowjackets by their white and black coloring. It has a white or "baldfaced" head, which is the source of its colloquial namesake. These wasps also have three white stripes at the end of their bodies. They are notably larger than other species of Dolichovespula, as adults average about 19 millimetres (0.75 in) in length.[3] Queen and worker wasps have similar morphologies. However, workers are covered by small hairs while the queen remains hairless. Queens are always larger than workers in their colonies, though size distributions can vary in different nests and workers in one colony might be as large as a queen in a different one.[1]
D. maculata create egg-shaped, paper nests up to 360 millimetres (14 in) in diameter and 580 millimetres (23 in) in length. Nests are layered hexagonal combs covered by a mottled gray paper envelope. Bald-Faced Hornets create this paper envelope by collecting and chewing naturally occurring fibers. The wood fiber mixes with their saliva to become a pulpy substance that they can then form into place.
Habitat:
The bald-faced hornet lives in North America, including southern Canada, the Rocky Mountains, the western coast of the United States, and most of the eastern United States. It is most common in the southeastern United States.[4]
Dolichovespula maculata is found in forested areas and in vegetation in urban areas. Nests are generally located in trees and bushes but they can occasionally be found under rock overhangs or the sides of buildings. Vertical distribution of nests has been recorded from heights of 1.1 to 20 m (3 ft 7 in to 65 ft 7 in) above ground level.
Notes:
This was an interesting spotting--The hornet emerged from a hole in a rotten log that it was hibernating in. I will need to do more research on this behavior and update the info.
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