How to Identify Wasps

Wasps include almost 75,000 different insect species. There are parasitic wasps, social wasps and solitary wasps. Most wasp varieties are flying insects that prey on other insects or their larva. Others are flightless and some are even aquatic. The most common types are paper wasps, yellowjackets and hornets. Sadly the way many learn to identify wasps is by their sting. Only female wasps sting, delivering venom through an egg laying duct called the ovipositor. Wasp types can be perceived and distinguished from bees by looking at five physical features.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Look at the wings. Check the insect’s wing configuration while it’s not flying. A bee leaves its wings out flat. Common wasps have two pairs of wings which they fold together like sticks on both sides of their back.

2. Watch the legs. When a bee walks pollen is sometimes visible on the hair of the pollen sacks on their legs. Wasps have no pollen sacks. Notice what happens to the legs in flight. A bee's legs are barely visible with back legs possibly hanging straight down. A wasp has two long back legs that dangle toward the rear when they’re flying.

3. Check for hair. Look closely behind the head of a flying insect. Honey bees have lots of short fuzzy hair. The hair is longer and fuller on bumblebees. European hornets have some noticeable hair, but paper wasps and yellowjackets have little or none.

4. Find the waist line. Look for a long slender needle like waist. This is the way to tell a paper wasp from a yellowjacket or European hornet. Other types of wasps have this waist, but differentiating features separate them from common wasps. A bees waist is just as thick as its body. Hornets and yellowjackets appear to have been chopped with a narrow waist closely connecting the lower thorax and abdomen.

5. Look at color. Notice the coat color. Honey bees, European hornets, paper wasps and yellowjackets are all marked in a similar yellow and black pattern. Honey bees have an amber tint to their yellow stripes. Some paper wasps are dark bronze with black legs and faces. The bald–faced hornet is mostly black with large white stripes over its face.

Tips & Warnings

• Hornets and yellowjackets are very aggressive and sting without provocation. They sting every warm blooded creature they encounter to discourage predators. Paper wasps only sting when their nest is threatened. Wasps do not have a cleat that pulls the stinger away, so they’re able to sting repeatedly.