Photo Gallery: Bees, Hornets and Wasps (Plus Sawflies)
Note: To see some flies that are good at mimicking bees, visit our page of syrphid flies.
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Bald-faced Hornets (guarding their nest)
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Bald-faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) (technically a type of yellowjacket) (shown here holding the remnants of an insect which was probably preyed upon by the hornet)
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Bicolored Striped-Sweat bee (Agapostemon virescens) (South Portland, ME; 6/15/2022) (Photo courtesy of Amy Haskins)
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Bumblebee (Sometimes written as two words)
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Bumblebee (queen)
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Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp (Sphecius speciosus) (~1.5″ long; solitary and non-aggressive) (often mistaken for a Murder Hornet due to its size) (Raymond Cape, ME; 7/11/2022) (Photo courtesy of Paul Tracy)
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Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp (Sphecius speciosus) (~1.5″ long; solitary and non-aggressive) (often mistaken for a Murder Hornet due to its size) (Raymond Cape, ME; 7/11/2022) (Photo courtesy of Paul Tracy)
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Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp (Sphecius speciosus) (Photo courtesy of Scott Saunders) (8/29/2021; Hollis, Maine)
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Elm Sawfly adult, resting on a pea plant (7/1/2020; Edgecomb, Maine) (Photo by E. Kerr)
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Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp (Eremnophila aureonotata) (Rockport, ME; 8/30/2020)
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Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Morton; Detroit, Maine; 8/19/2021)
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Honey Bees (Sometimes written as one word)
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A species of Ichneumonidae wasp (Therion circumflexon) (North Anson, ME; 5/23/2024) (Photo courtesy of Carol Lehto)
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Guinea Paper Wasps (Polistes exclamans)
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Golden Paper Wasp (also known as Northern Paper Wasp)
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Example of a solitary ground-nesting bee
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A sand wasp (Bicyrtes ventralis) (Troy, Maine; 7/29/2009) Sand wasps are solitary, non-aggressive and beneficial.
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Sweat Bees / Halictids
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Example of a Potter wasp (likely Ancistrocerus gazella) (the female collects as many as twenty caterpillars to provision each nest which she later seals with mud)
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A solitary species of Vespid wasp in the group known as Potter and Mason wasps (Quite possibly Ancistrocerus catskill)
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American Yellowjacket / Alaska Yellowjacket (Vespula alascensis) (female worker) (Searsport, ME; 7/23/2023)
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Common Aerial Yellowjacket
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European Hornet
(Open the photo to see a side-by-side comparison with a Yellowjacket)
Sawflies:
Sawfly larvae look like caterpillars but they are actually the larvae of primitive wasp-like insects.
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Dogwood Sawfly Larvae on a dogwood (middle instar stage) (7/17/2020) (Photo courtesy of Susan; Monroe, ME) (compare with adjacent photos of the final two instar stages which are very different)
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Dogwood Sawfly Larvae (nearing the final instar stage) (Naples, ME; 8/28/2023) (Photo courtesy of M. Shepard)
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Dogwood Sawfly larvae [Photo courtesy of Val Libby, Blue Hill (Maine) on 1 Aug. 2021]
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Final larval instar of the Dogwood Sawfly (Macremphytus testaceus) (August 9th, 2009; Medway, Maine)
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Final larval instar of the Dogwood Sawfly (Macremphytus testaceus) (August 9th, 2009; Medway, Maine) (Similar to a White Pine Sawfly larva)
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Elm Sawfly (larval stage) (7/27/2009; Pittsfield, ME)
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Elm Sawfly (larval stage) (7/27/2009; Pittsfield, ME)
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Elm Sawfly adult, resting on a pea plant (7/1/2020; Edgecomb, Maine) (Photo by E. Kerr)
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European Apple Sawfly (larvae)
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European Pine Sawfly larva
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European Pine Sawfly larvae
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Two European Pine Sawfly cocoons attached to a pine needle
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Introduced Pine Sawfly larva (July 11, 2015) (central Maine)
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Introduced Pine Sawfly larva (July, 2015)
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Introduced Pine Sawfly adult (Etna, ME; 4/15/2020)
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Introduced Pine Sawfly adult (Etna, ME; 4/15/2020)
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White Pine Sawfly larvae
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White Pine Sawfly larva
Additional Photos and Information:
Sawflies (Univ. of Wisconsin Extension)|See also Sawflies (UMN Extension)