Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae
Subfamily: Vespinae
Genus: Dolichovespula Rohwer, 1916
Subgenus: Dolichovespula Rohwer, 1916
Species: Dolichovespula maculata (Linnaeus, 1763)
Common names: bald-faced hornet, bald hornet, white-faced hornet, black jack, white-tailed hornet, spruce wasp, blackjacket, and bull wasp
bald-faced hornet
Dolichovespula maculata, the bald-faced hornet, is a yellowjacket and not a true hornet. Its common name comes from its largely black color with a mostly white face and abdominal apex.
Dolichovespula maculata is found throughout most of the Nearctic region, except the central plains and desert southwest.
Distribution map of Dolichovespula maculata by GBIF: https://www.gbif.org/species/1311815
D. maculata is easily recognized by its striking black and white coloration.
To identify the genus:
To identify the species :
The genus Dolichovespula contains 18 species worldwide (Archer 2006). Four species are found in the Nearctic region, including D. alpicola, D. arenaria, D. maculata, and D. norvegicoides (Kimsey and Carpenter 2012).
Adults commonly visit flowers for nectar and other sugar sources such as ripe fruit. They are also scavengers of carcasses. Larvae are fed pre-chewed insects by the adult females.
The bald-faced hornet is found in forested areas or vegetation in urban areas. Nests are large and ovoid. Brood combs are enclosed in a spherical paper envelope. Nests are built above ground usually in trees and shrubs but also in protected sites, like under eaves and gutters. Nests have been found as high as 20 m (66 ft) above the ground (Archer 2006).
Fertilized queens overwinter in sheltered sites and begin nest construction around mid-May. Typically, the first workers begin emerging in mid-June, the first queens emerge by mid-August, and by mid-September the colony declines after producing males and new queens. The nest life cycle is approximately 4 months at higher latitudes and altitudes. At lower latitudes and elevations colonies may establish earlier and last longer (Archer 2006).