Types of Wasps in Massachusetts

Baldfaced and Giant Hornets

• Baldfaced hornets are social wasps that live in colonies. These insects are around 3/4 of an inch long and have black bodies with yellowish-white markings. Queen baldfaced hornets lay eggs in the cells of the nest that hatch into larvae. The larvae go through several developmental stages before reaching adulthood. Hornets can be aggressive if they feel threatened, and their sting is very painful.

  Giant hornets can grow to be as large as 1-1/8 inch. They are found mainly in southern Massachusetts. These insects are reddish-brown with dark bands across their abdomens. Every spring the queens start new colonies out of mud and chewed tree bark, according to Cornell University. The colonies can number as many as 1,000 hornets by the end of the nesting season. Giant hornets will sting if provoked.

Yellowjackets and Paper Wasps

• Yellow jackets are social wasps that make large hives underground in abandoned rodent burrows. They are around half an inch long and are yellow with black markings. Yellow jackets are scavengers that will eat nearly anything, but are especially attracted to garbage cans, sugary drinks and dead animals. Yellow jackets will attack if they feel the nest is threatened and can sting multiple times.

  According to the University of Idaho Extension, paper wasps are a non-native species first seen in Massachusetts in 1981. These insects are usually orange, red or dark brown with long, slender bodies. Some paper wasps have yellow or black banding across their bodies and look similar to yellow jackets. The paper wasp builds nests under the eaves of buildings and in other sheltered areas. Paper wasps feed other insects to their offspring, which helps to control insect populations. Paper wasps are not aggressive and rarely sting.

Great Golden Digger Wasps and Cicada Killers

• Great golden digger wasps are between half an inch and one inch in length. They are solitary wasps that live in underground burrows. These wasps have black heads and tails and a reddish-orange segment on their abdomen. Adult golden wasps eat nectar, but their larvae are carnivorous and eat katydids. The female wasp partially paralyzes a katydid by stinging it and dragging it back to the nest, where she lays an egg on its body. When the wasp egg hatches, it feeds on the katydid. These insects are non-aggressive, but are capable of stinging if handled.

  Cicada killers are solitary insects that live underground. These are one of the larger species of wasps found in Massachusetts. They have black bodies with yellowish-white patterning and rust-colored wings. Lee Townsend, the Extension Entomologist for the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, says that a cicada killer paralyzes a cicada by stinging it and then dragging the insect back to its burrow, where it lays an egg on the cicada. The young wasp feeds on the cicada's body. These wasps will sting if disturbed.