Insect Picture of the Day

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Now this is a refreshing change: these are not european paper wasps! Jesse Moore sends in today’s photo. He says he apologizes, but this is as close as the telephoto lens could get him and there’s no way he was going to actually get himself near those bugs. I blame him exactly this much: not at all.

Yellowjackets belong to genus Vespula, and though I do not know the species yet there is some very telling behavior here: hornets collect sugars during Spring and Summer for the quick energy it gives them to fuel their foraging and explorations. Later in the year, they’ll switch to a protein-based diet because they want to stock up on slow-burning fuel to make it through the Winter. From this we know the picture was taken in the first half of the year. You can try this experiment at home (or, at least, at your next picnic): When the hornets show up to pester you, watch what foods they go for. At your Memorial Day picnic, they’ll be getting in everyone’s soft drinks. At the Labor Day picnic, they’ll be all over the hamburgers and hotdogs.

You’ll probably need the larger version to really differentiate the species, but yellowjackets have straight black antennae while epw’s have bent yellow antennae. There is also a specific pattern to the black and yellow bands, but I can tell you from experience that you can’t just be told what banding patterns mean what. I confidently identified every flying yellow thing as Vespula germanica for several months after seeing pictures in a guidebook. My wife made me stop when she tossed me a banana and I screamed.