Golden paper wasp
Polistes aurifer
Name means: “gold bearer”
The golden paper wasp is a slim wasp from western North America. Its colours change from place to place: in the north it is mostly black with yellow, in the south it can be mostly yellow or rusty red. Like other paper wasps, it lives in a family that builds a nest in a sheltered spot.
Lives in
Western North America, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and Hawaii
What does it eat?
Paper wasps hunt caterpillars and other small insects to feed their young.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Golden paper wasp about 22 km/h (14 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its Latin name means gold bearer, from the Latin word for gold.
2
Its wings are a little yellowish.
3
It has two big yellow spots on its tail end.
4
In warm California it can be seen almost all year, from January to November.
you asked
Most asked questions about Golden paper wasp
?Where does the golden paper wasp live?
In western North America, from southern Canada to northern Mexico.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Polistes aurifer
- Named by
- Saussure, 1853
- Group
- Wasps and hornets
- Family
- Vespidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Vespidae
- Lives on
- North America, Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Polistes aurifer (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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