Backyard and Beyond

Both of these were spotted in Central Park:Bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata). These are the social wasps that make the large, football-shaped paper nests you see in trees, especially in winter. The nests are completely inactive in winter and unused the following year. The wasp is chewing the old wood of this tree; it’s how they make the paper of their nests. Most of the nests are grayish, like this old wood, although I have a piece of one that is a rather lovely red and gray.
Digger wasp (Scolia dubia). These wasps are solitary, unlike the Bald-faced. They parasitize soil-dwelling June beetle grubs by paralyzing them, then building a cell around them in the ground. The prey becomes food for the wasp’s larva. As is often the case for such parasitic wasps, the adults themselves eat nectar. I find the combination of dark smoky wings and bright yellow spots on the abdomen striking.