On cold autumn mornings, you’ll sometimes find dew-chilled yellowjackets that didn’t survive the previous night’s killing frost.
Nov 27, 2011
A killing frost
Posted by Lorianne under Creepy crawlies, Newton | Tags: autumn, dew, NaBloPoMo, yellowjacket |[4] Comments
Hoarded Ordinaries 
Nov 27, 2011 at 5:09 pm
Whoa… that ain’t no bee.
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Nov 27, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Is it a wasp or some sort of yellow-jacket? I’m hugely ignorant when it comes to entomology. I know it’s not a garden-variety honey bee, but beyond that…
I do know that it was dead, as I touched it to check.
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Nov 27, 2011 at 5:16 pm
I’m no expert, either, but I’d say it’s a yellow-jacket or German wasp (which may be the same thing, come to think of it).
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Nov 27, 2011 at 5:42 pm
A bit of Googling suggests it is indeed a yellowjacket. According to Wikipedia, “yellowjacket” refers to various black-and-yellow wasps; German wasps belong to a European species that is now found in the US. There’s also a native species, the Eastern yellowjacket.
I’ve edited the text and tags to say “yellowjacket” rather than “bee,” although I won’t venture to identify the exact species.
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