Typical oval face of the Polistes aurifer---our local paper wasp.
There seems to be almost as many species of social wasps around here as there are social bees. Most of those wasps have a fairly oval face. Certainly, that is the case for the genus, Vespula—many of the yellow jackets that build nests in the ground—and the Polistes—the paper wasps that build single-layer open-cone nests. Local examples of these can be seen on this website’s page about social wasps.
Then there are the Dolichovespula or long-faced vespula (from Greek, dolikhos = long). They are also the ones who build the large spherical nests that hang from trees and other aerial structures. For years, I have been familiar with Dolichovespula maculata—the Bald-faced Hornet. In the last few days, I spotted my first Dolichovespula arenaria—the Aerial Yellowjacket.
First, two pictures of the familiar Bald-faced Hornet showing its striking long face.
Then, two pictures of the Aerial Yellowjacket—showing its long face.
