Family: Vespidae, Vespid Wasps view all from this family

Description 5/8-3/4" (16-20 mm). Head much shorter than wide; neck and "waist" (pedicel) about equally constricted. Black and white patterns on face, thorax, abdomen, and 1st antennal segment. Wings smoky.

Warning Adults are extremely protective of the nest and will sting repeatedly - and painfully - if disturbed.

Food Adult drinks nectar, fruit juices, and perhaps eats other insects. Larva feeds on insects pre-chewed by adults.

Life Cycle In spring female chews wood to build small, pendant nests out of gray pulp. The 1st generation includes only female workers. They bring food several times a day to larvae. Larvae close their own cells. The nest is always constructed in the open and consists of many layers of cells that are covered on the outside, with the doorway at the bottom. In late summer males mature from unfertilized eggs and mate. They die along with older queens, workers, and young; only young mated females overwinter in soil or among litter.

Habitat Meadows, forest edges, and lawns.

Range Throughout North America.