Bald Faced Hornet: Appearance, Territory, Damage and Life Cycle

Latin Name: Dolichovespula Maculata Appearance: The bald-faced hornet, Dolichovespula Maculata, is a kind of social paper wasp in the Vespidae family. The bald-faced hornet, despite its common name, is not a hornet at all, but rather a member of the same family as yellowjacket wasps. Adult bald-faced hornets have black bodies and white faces, as well as white legs and white patterns on the tips of their abdomens. Workers can grow to be three-quarters of an inch (19 mm) long, but the queen is usually bigger. Larvae are white, squishy, legless grubs that live in hexagonal cells of the paper nest. Pupae, which are likewise limited to these cells, are white at first and darken as they mature. Hosts Plants: Tree hollows and thick bushes and trees are common places for bald faced hornet nests. A queen seeking for a place to spend the winter may migrate indoors via holes in the roof or around the eaves. Yards with a lot of covered spaces are more likely to get infested. Territory: The bald-faced hornet is found across the United States and Canada, although it is most abundant in the southern United States, especially Louisiana. With the exception of the European hornet (Vespa Crabro), which was imported to eastern North America during the nineteenth century, true hornets are exclusive to the Old World. Unconfirmed reports imply its presence in Louisiana, although its installation is questionable. It has been recorded in various neighboring states. Damage Insect Cause: Bald-faced hornet colonies can include anything from 100 to 400 individuals. The colony’s workers are in charge of gathering insects to bring back to the growing larvae to feed on. Bald-faced hornets are thought to be useful since they prey on pest insects and assist to keep their populations under check. Trying to get rid of bald-faced hornets on your property is not a smart do-it-yourself project. Those pests will assault and sting anyone who poses a threat to their safety. Even tiny nests can be hazardous, but large-scale coordinated attacks normally do not occur until the nest is rather large. Life History and Habits: Like other members of the order Hymenoptera, the bald-faced hornet undergoes full metamorphosis. This cycle begins in early spring, when the overwintered queen builds a tiny beginning nest of hexagonal paper cells. She puts an egg in each of the cells. Each egg develops into a tiny larva six days later. Under normal conditions, the larvae develop and molt (shed their exoskeletons) multiple times over the next eight days before transforming into pupae. The pupal stage lasts nine to ten days before a young adult wasp emerges from the cell and begins her tasks in service to the colony. Bald Faced Hornet   Scientific Name: Dolichovespula maculata Common Name: Bald faced hornet, White faced hornet, White tailed hornet, bald faced yellow jacket, Bull wasp. Appearance: As the name shows, bald-faced hornets have white markings on their body, including face, thorax, abdomen, and legs, with the rest of the body having dark black color. They have brown eyes and brown wings held horizontally on the sides of the body. The queens are 18-20 mm long, while workers are only 12-14 mm long. Males have seven segmented abdomen with white markings on the first segment and thirteen segmented antennae. Females have six segmented abdomen and twelve segmented antennae. Host Plants or Food: Small insects and Nectar. Territory: Throughout North America Mode of Damage: Beneficial garden insect. Habits and Life History: Bald faced hornets are aerial and build their nest in trees, bushes, roofs, and other protected areas. Their nest has globular shape and has a paper-like outer covering with small hexagonal chambers inside. Like ants and other wasps, bald faced hornets are also eusocial. They have colonies containing queens, male drones, and female workers. Each colony has nearly 400-700 female workers depending upon the size of the nest and colony. Like other wasps, bald faced hornets also undergo complete metamorphosis. The eggs hatch into larvae, the larvae undergo pupal stages, and pupae develop into adult hornets. The adult queens, after mating in early fall, seek shelter and hibernate during the whole winter. In the spring the queens come out and start building the nests and lay the eggs. The eggs fertilized by females develop into females, while unfertilized eggs develop into males. The first batch of the eggs develops into female workers, which aid the queen in building and extending the nest. As the winter starts approaching, the queen lays new eggs, which develops into males and new queens. The queens go out, mate, and then hibernate during the entire winter. The males die after mating. The old queens and unfertilized females also die due to cold, and the cycle continues.