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) (7/11/2022; Raymond Cape, Maine) (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) (7/11/2022; Raymond Cape, Maine) (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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- Honey Bees (Sometimes written as one word)
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- Introduced Pine Sawfly adult (Etna, ME; 4/15/2020)
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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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- 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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- 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)
Additional Photos and Information:
- Bald-faced Hornets
- Bicolored Striped-sweat Bee, Agapostemon virescens (BugGuide.net)
- Bumblebees (BugGuide.net)
- Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp (Missouri Dept. of Conservation) See also: Sphecius speciosus (BugGuide.net)
- European Hornets
- Honey bees (eXtension.org)
- Paper Wasps
- Golden Paper Wasps (BugGuide.net)
- Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp (BugGuide.net)
- Great Golden Digger Wasp (Univ. of Wisconsin)
- Ground-nesting Solitary Bees (Cornell)
- Sand Wasps (Missouri Dept of Conservation)
- Bicyrtes ventralis (BugGuide.net)
- Sawflies (also called “Stingless wasps” as they highly resemble wasps yet they do not sting)
- Elm Sawfly
- Dogwood Sawfly (Iowa State Univ Extension) (additional images, including the adult stage: BugGuide.net)
- European Apple Sawfly
- European Pine Sawfly
- Introduced Pine Sawfly
- White Pine Sawfly
- Sweat Bees (BugGuide.net)
- Bicolored Striped-sweat Bee, Agapostemon virescens (BugGuide.net)
- Potter and Mason Wasps (subfamily Eumeninae): Genus Ancistrocerus (BugGuide.net)
- Yellowjackets
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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- 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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- 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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- 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 larvae
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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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- White Pine Sawfly larvae
