BEES, WASPS, AND HORNETS

Carpenter Bees

• Mostly black but can be green or purplish
• Males have a yellow face with white dots on their heads
• Females are black
• 1/2 to 1 inch long
• Resembles bumble bees, but their abdomen is bare and shiny

Honey Bees

• Black and yellow
• 1/2 to 1 inch long
• Distinctive barrel-shaped body
• Covered in small hairs that make them look fuzzy
• Pollinators and will fly between flowers and their nest

Digger or Ground Bees

• Active in early spring
• Dig nests in the ground similar in appearance to anthills but with larger openings
• Black, yellow and white in color
• Important to pollination
• Not usually aggressive; stings are uncommon

Bumble Bees

• Vary in appearance but are typically plump and densely furry
• Larger and broader than honey bees with a more rounded abdomen tip
• Thick bands of color in an alternating black and yellow pattern
• Important pollinators; not usually aggressive
• In danger of extinction and need to be handled with care

Yellow Jackets

• Often mistaken for bees
• These wasps are roughly 1/2 an inch long
• Black and yellow with alternating white bands on the abdomen (rear half)
• Important predators of pest insects
• Can sting repeatedly and the stinger can become lodged in the skin

White Faced Hornets

• Also knows as bald-faced hornets
• 1/2 to 5/8 of an inch long
• Long, wasp like body
• Black and white pattern on most of the face
• Will aggressively defend their nest by stinging an invader repeatedly

Cicada Killers

• Large digger wasps
• Range from 1/2 – 2 inches long
• Black to reddish brown with black areas on the thorax and yellow stripes on the rear segments
• Brownish wings
• Not ordinarily aggressive; stings are uncommon

Mud Daubers

• Wasps that build their nests from mud
• Black with bright yellow legs and some yellow on the upper body
• Roughly 1 inch in length
• Long and slender
• Not often aggressive; stings are uncommon