# Paper wasp

*Polistes spp.*

**Identification confidence:** Identifiable with care

## How to recognise it

- Long, slender body with a very narrow waist, 16 to 25 mm, usually brown with yellow or reddish markings.
- The long back legs dangle conspicuously below the body in flight — this is the easiest field separator from a yellowjacket.
- The nest is a single open, downward-facing comb of exposed hexagonal cells, suspended by a narrow stalk, with no papery outer envelope.

## What it leaves behind

- Open umbrella-shaped combs under eaves, in door frames, on porch ceilings, in grills, and inside meter boxes.
- A small number of adults resting directly on the visible comb.

## Why an infestation persists

Colonies are much smaller than yellowjacket colonies — often a few dozen individuals — and paper wasps are markedly less defensive, generally stinging only when the nest is touched or approached very closely. They are useful predators of caterpillars. Nests in low-traffic locations frequently warrant no action at all.


## Where it occurs

Throughout the United States.

## What prevents it

- Check eaves, door frames, and grills in early spring when nests are small and founding queens are alone.
- Screen or seal the openings of meter boxes, vents, and hollow structural sections.

## Commonly confused with

- **Yellowjacket** (*Vespula spp. and Dolichovespula spp.*) — Bright, sharply defined yellow and black banding with a smooth, hairless, glossy body. A honey bee is fuzzy and duller golden-brown by comparison — this is the key separator.
- **Mud dauber** (*Sceliphron caementarium and related genera*) — The waist is extremely long and thread-like, far more elongated than any other common wasp — this alone identifies the group.

**Verdict:** monitor-and-assess. Location decides it. A nest away from doors and traffic is generally best left alone; one at a doorway or in a play area needs a different answer.


Source: https://againstpest.shop/identify/stinging-insects/paper-wasp/