Paper Wasps

Northern Paper Wasp/Polistes fuscatus comes in several forms. The one on top is the most elaborate I’ve seen. C.A. Kratzer, who wrote the big book of social wasps, calls this the yellow-spot form.

These make umbrella-like paper nests that hand from a short anchor and are uncovered by surrounding paper, unlike:

I didn’t notice this Bald-faced Hornet/Dolichovespula maculata nest, hanging from a London Plane across the street from our apartment building, until the last day of summer. Just goes to show you how unobtrusive they are.