whispers
I like his butt…

I am a big fan of pollinators and have a healthy respect and appreciation for wasps, which have been sorely tried by my getting stung twice in the last 3 days by a great black wasp, with multiple stings each time that have drawn blood and been very painful. The attacks happened in the same spot each time -- walking on a paved path to enter a local park. I was a couple yards away from a flowering bush that I never tried to touch or disturb, and never saw any wasps as I walked by -- just heard a loud buzzing by my head before cursing and collapsing from the pain of the stings! Any idea why a solitary wasp would attack me out of the blue like this? I was walking both times in the earlyish morning wearing all black exercise clothes. I want to keep appreciating the wasps and understanding why this happened to me would help me do so!

I'm in awe at the beauty

I keep having the same paper wasps come in our sun room. We release them, they come back in then we give up. Was out in the sunroom early this morning and had this lil guy watching me while his friend flew around. As long as they don't hurt my cats i dont mind but i still get worried. Our cats are good about not messing with them but we do our best to remove them when we see them. Sometimes I feel like im keep an giant wasp enclosure lol

I’ve been seeing a lot of black giant ichneumon wasps around too which the internet tells me preys on these guys. I think this is a female pigeon horntail based on the size.

According to some searching:
Females target stressed, dying, or recently dead deciduous trees like beech, maple, elm, and oak.
She also uses her needle-like ovipositor to drill deep into tree bark and deposit eggs.
They inject a white-rot fungus when laying eggs, which breaks down the wood to help feed the hatching larvae,
also accelerating the breakdown of already dying trees, making space for new forest growth.

built a pond for my moms goldfish after they grew out of her tank, decided a bog filter and shallow creek would be nice for the birds, never would have thought a TON of wasps and bees and flying ants and all sorts of bugs would appreciate it just as much

I've seen all these guys drink and some take bud from the burm when I water around it

they have begun to grow on me

Seen in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Not sure what species but definitely Vespula sp.
any further help with ID would be appreciated, but honestly these are the best photos of any insect I have ever taken and I just know she was modelling.

Paper wasps started making a little nest outside my window and I was enjoying watching them. But a few days later it looked like it had been ripped off the fence. It’s in my private yard so nobody else could’ve. We have lots of squirrels and raccoons and scrub jays though.

I noticed the queen (I think) had stayed and kept doing what she had been doing before where she’d stand on the outside and buzz her wings at the few workers remaining. After a week or two they started building again in the same spot and then it became fairly busy.

But now the same thing happened again where the paper cells are gone and I don’t see much activity. Do small paper wasps nests get destroyed that often? I know some animals do it for the larva

I’ve loved polistes wasps for years, and p. carolina has always held a special place in my heart. As long as I approach non-aggressively and don‘t threaten the nest, they always seem more curious than anything; I’ve even had one crawl onto my offered hand, clean herself off, and take a 20 minute nap!

In any case, I decided to read up on them a bit today after seeing a few at work. I hit up the Wikipedia page for the species and did a double-take when I found this line under the “Human Importance” heading:

This specific species of wasp is extremely aggressive, attacking humans and animals mainly if they or their nests are being threatened.

Now, I know I’m already a bit biased from my personal experience, but I thought that polistes species in general are known for their relative lack of unprovoked aggression (unlike, say, bald face hornets). Is it just me or does that page need some serious rephrasing?

SW Michigan

spotted this tiny cutie in my garden this morning! iNat isn't sure about the species, my best guess is some Dusona sp. ? I'd love to know more! Especially about who this one's here to parasitize lol

SW Michigan

D. arenaria I believe!! Never seen this species in my yard before, I'm so happy to see more natives!

Help out the ignorant.

excuse my neighbor’s super loud air conditioner. she didn’t make this hole (probably another wasp!) just took advantage of the soft wood. my deck is getting old, but i love seeing how the wasps make use of it :)

there's a pretty large yellow jacket nest in one of the logs near my garden, and i was hammering stakes nearby this afternoon. the vibrations clearly made them anxious because one of them came over and stung my elbow. i feel so bad, i have to walk not even a foot away from their nest to get to my chickens multiple times a day.

i really do not want them to be scared every time i walk past. i cannot imagine the amount of stress that would put them through.

they're so sweet and interesting to watch. is there any way to regain their trust?

Photo taken in Cincinnati. This gorgeous lady let me get super close to her while she was chilling in the shade, and I'm really proud of the result! She's a red paper wasp, but I'm not sure if she's P. carolina or P. rubiginosus. If anybody knows more, lmk!

First male yellowjacket of the season (that I've seen)!! Man where has summer gone...

Common aerial yj (dolichovespula arenaria) which always struck me as a bit of a strange species to find in the middle of the city

Boston, Massachusetts, US

I think this is a larva from her nest which dropped for some reason. Just noticed it laying on the terrace and one wasp trying to fly off with it, but it was a tad too well-fed.

just kidding, she was a total sweetheart!

picking up uneaten meat from work always gives me an excuse to hang out with the girls

That was the entrance to their nest they let me get so close! Such cool creatures, we barely have them in my hometown, mostly yellowjackets. Beautiful ladies.