It’s the white on the face of these Dolichovespula maculata that give them the common name “Bald-faced Hornet.”
They’re not hornets, by the way. Hornets strictly speaking are in the genus Vespa. They’re “Aerial Yellowjackets,” the common name of the Dolichovespula. But for a black and white wasp, this is not very helpful, either.
The “bald” here, as with the Bald Eagle, comes from a Middle English base the OED suggests originally meant a “white patch.”
In “bald-faced liar,” it’s not necessarily a white face but rather an obviously untruthful face. After all, in Trump’s case, the bold-faced bald-faced liar’s face is actually orange-tinted.
Backyard and Beyond 
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