Metricus Paper Wasp

It is native to North America. It is found in the United States.

North America, the United States

Polistes metricus is dark colored, with yellow tarsi and black tibia. Polistes metricus has a dark ferruginous (rusty) color with black markings on its thorax and a mostly black abdomen. Its tibia is black, and the tarsi are yellow. A black spot, separate from the antennae, contains the three ocelli. Females bear six abdominal segments, while males bear seven. Swelled parts of the abdomen of this species are a key defining element. In the female, extensive rust-red coloration occurs on her head and mesosoma. Female Polistes metricus yellow markings are very limited in area. The mesosoma has a large spread of red color, and the metasoma shows black coloration. Polistes metricus also has an especially marked outward bend in sternum 2; however, this is often a very subtle characteristic. In the male, the red coloring takes up less area, but black coloration takes up more area. The male has more yellow markings than the female and a yellow color on his entire face and the pronotal carina. The yellow coloration on the legs of the male is highly variable in this species. The smallest of the larvae can be told apart from eggs by noticing the darker anterior end of larvae. In the nests of Polistes metricus, cells that are capped are most likely cells that contain pupae. After pupae emerge from their cocoons, they leave behind evidence of their metamorphosis in the form of cocoon shavings.

Birds, bats, spiders, mantises, other wasps

Unlike many other species, metricus Paper Wasp exhibits a rare behavior called 'facial recognition', allowing them to distinguish between individual faces of their species.