Can anyone ID this insect?

FLOVVERVVEAVER! . . . . CAUTION! ! ! !
If they are YELLOVV JACKETS, (and that is vvhat it appears to me ), they can be life threatening if nest site is disturbed or approached.... Be very careful and if you hire an exterminator make sure he/she is insured..
Lots o' luck getting rid of your interloping homesteaders..
Sam
 
If it's some type of a yellow jacket (given the size, that is my best guess), they usually make their nests in the ground in areas where the dirt is somewhat bare, near to some sort of structure (a bush, a pile of junk, woodpile, etc.) If you're seeing them near your outbuilding, keep an eye around the foundation. You may be able to see them coming and going from the hole. If you can locate the hole, you can go out after dark and carefully pour some gasoline down the hole and that will do them in.

We end up finding at least one nest each summer and had two this time. If they weren't near where the children play or we work, I would just let them be.
 
Bugguide.net certainly has a lot of wasps to look at!

The one that came closest in appearance, to my untrained eyes, was a subarctic wasp. That can't be it! The straight stripes the mix of yellow, black and red, the red head ... seems quite unique.

I'd be shooting my way into that shed and casually, turning around and walking away - like some innocent passerby ... later, I'd be shooting my way in a 2nd time. Maybe, a third time would be in the dark with a flashlight.

I'm fairly seriously allergic but I don't have honey bees either. Good luck, Stay safe.

Steve
 
Up here, fairly easy going in summer. Come September, they have no tolerance for anything near their nest. I'd spray their nests at night. I let one go because they didn't bother me all summer. Then n fall they stung me. That night, they were eliminated.
 
New species? Think about it, insects and other bugs make up much of Earth's biodiversity. I've found several tiny, brightly-colored jumping spiders in my garden that nobody has been able to identify yet through description (too small to get good pictures, ones bright yellow with a tiny black smiley-face pattern on it's back). I have never thought about sending them to the entomology department. Will be interesting to hear what feedback you get from them, Flower. You might need to put your bee suits to good use until then.
 
TheSeedObsesser said:
New species? Think about it, insects and other bugs make up much of Earth's biodiversity. I've found several tiny, brightly-colored jumping spiders in my garden that nobody has been able to identify yet through description (too small to get good pictures, ones bright yellow with a tiny black smiley-face pattern on it's back). I have never thought about sending them to the entomology department. Will be interesting to hear what feedback you get from them, Flower. You might need to put your bee suits to good use until then.
Click to expand...
Better watch out, they could be a super rare species and your garden will suddenly become spider habitat and no more garden for you!:lol:
 
Person at entomology department "...and you said that you found these spiders in your garden?"

Me "Oh no, I said that I found these in my neighbors flower garden."



(....OK no, I'm not that mean. :p)
 
Got a very fast repsonse from A & M. It is a Mason Wasp, Euodynerus annulatus. The females are gathering water to build mud entrance tubes to their solitary nests. I've often wondered who built those things out in the short grass prairie. The entomologist had never seen one before, so it must not be too common. But they do eat larvae of certain moths so it sound like a beneficial insect. That's one reason I like to have positive ID's.

This also tells me what ever is living communally in the shed is either a split from my bee hive, or something else... Looks like I'll have to suit up and go in for a look. To be continued...
 
@journey11 LOL, they are coming from a hole between wooden boards of the wall of the shed. I would love to burn this building down, as it also has termites and is an eyesore. But unfortunately it's currently housing our farming tools and some family mementos. I'll bet there's a fantastic nest of what ever it is in the old armoire--gah!

If it's yellow jackets I can wait till they die in the first freeze and then cart the nest off. If it's bees I'll have to consider relocation into hive boxes before a freeze. Without a bee vacuum it might not be easy.
 
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