Black Wasp White Legs
Answer 1 of 2.
Black wasp white legs. The body is satiny matte black. Medium or large black wasp - 15-50 mm. This tiny wasp Family Eulophidae just 2 mm long is a parasite of native leafcutter bees.
8-125 mm in length. The bald-faced hornet Dolichovespula maculata is a large black and white colored social wasp that is found throughout North America. The precise pattern of white around the inner margin of the eyes the white bands on each pair of legs together with the white band on the first abdominal segment are distinctive.
Many native wasps are minute because they specialise in parasitising other insects. They include tropical hover wasps potter wasps and mud daubers. These wasps yes despite their name they are wasps would be harmless but only if you can completely steer clear of their nests.
Other types of wasps pull up their legs in place when flying. If you hadnt mentioned that they were black and white wasps there could be several possibilities. It is not a true hornet because that term is specifically used to describe wasp species in the genus Vespa but instead it is a member of the yellowjacket group in spite of its very un-yellowjacket-like colorations.
The legs are orange-brown in colours. Its actually a type of yellowjacket but its the only one that is not yellow and. This page contains pictures and information about Black and White Ichneumon Wasps that we found in the Brisbane area Queensland Australia.
Even when they are flying black wasps are easily distinguishable because they tend to drag their legs down while in flight. In most bees the scopa is simply a particularly dense mass of elongated hairs sort of bristle-like on the hind leg. The wasp has white band on the antenna.
