Polistes fuscatus

Polistes fuscatus
Polistes fuscatus from Virginia; dorsolateral view
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae
Subfamily: Polistinae
Tribe: Polistini
Genus: Polistes
Species:
P. fuscatus
Binomial name
Polistes fuscatus
(Fabricius, 1793)
Synonyms
  • Polistes exilis Saussure, 1853 [1]
  • Polistes fortunatus Kirby 1884
  • Polistes laurentianus Bequard, 1942
  • Polistes pallidipes Lepeletier, 1836
  • Polistes pallipes Lepeletier, 1836
  • Polistes variatus Cresson, 1872
  • Vespa nestor Fabricius, 1798

Polistes fuscatus, whose common name is the dark or northern paper wasp, is widely found in eastern North America, from southern Canada through the southern United States.[2] It often nests around human development. However, it greatly prefers areas in which wood is readily available for use as nest material, therefore they are also found near and in woodlands and savannas.[3] P. fuscatus is a social wasp that is part of a complex society based around a single dominant foundress along with other cofoundresses and a dominance hierarchy.[3]

  1. ^ Global species
  2. ^ Carpenter, James M. (1996). "Distributional checklist of the species of the genus Polistes (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Polistinae, Polistini)". American Museum Novitates (3188): 1–39. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b Evans, H. (1963). Wasp Farm. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.