Paper Wasp

A paper wasp of the genus Polistes builds her nest. At first, I assumed this was a yellowjacket, also a member of the vespid wasp family, but further research reveals that the yellowjackets build underground nests. There is a European paper wasp, P. diminula, now found in North America, as well as numerous native species. This may be the European.

Another mistake on my part was my long-time belief that those large, football-sized/shaped nests in trees were made by the paper wasps. A lot of people seem to think the same thing. I have some beautiful paper from these nests: a maroon-colored sample from Prospect Park, and the more standard gray-colored, which I found in California. These nests are actually the work of bald-faced hornets, D. maculata.