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All it takes is one pest sighting to ruin the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build.
Baldfaced Hornet
Dolichovespula maculata, Linnaeus
The nests of the baldfaced hornet are large football-shaped structures and should be approached with caution. Baldfaced hornets are very protective and will attack if they feel threatened. They die during the winter, leaving their nests abandoned.
RISK LEVEL:
LOW
MEDIUM
HIGH
Risk is defined as how much damage each pest can be to you, your family, or your home
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| Class: | Order: | Family: | |
| Insecta | Hymenoptera | Vespidae | |
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| Size: | Baldfaced hornet workers are about 5/8-3/4+ in (15-20+ mm) or more long; queens are 3/4+ in (20+ mm) long. |
| Color: | Mostly black with a white pattern on most of its face, hence the common name, "baldfaced". |
| Characteristics: | Baldfaced hornets are quite large. They build paper enclosed, gray, aerial nests. |
| Geographic Range: | All through the United States |
| Food: | Other insects, flower nectar |
| Biology: | Baldfaced hornets are social insects with queens that lay fertilized eggs, workers that are sterile females, and males that come from unfertilized eggs in late summer. Only queens overwinter. In spring a queen builds a nest from chewed up cellulose, and lays one egg in each compartment or cell as she builds it. She feeds the larvae protein from other insects, and flower nectar. When the first workers emerge a month later, they take over feeding and nest building, while she continues to lay eggs. Eventually there will be 3-5 combs or clusters (of several hundred cells each) which are attached one below the other. The nest will have 100-400 workers at its most active time. Later, when the colony is declining, larger cells are built to raise queens and males. Newly hatched queens and males leave the nest to mate. The queen that started this year's nest, the workers, and the males all die. Only the new queens survive the winter by hibernation in sheltered places. |
- Look for football-shaped nests lodged in cracks and crevices.
- Nests are usually fully enclosed and gray in color.
- May notice them congregating around spills or trash cans.