Hornet?s nest

A phone call from a reader resulted in this photo of a bald-faced hornet?s nest attached to the siding under the eaves of their home.

The hornet looks scarier than it really is. Bald-faced hornets, are large, black insects about seven-eighths of an inch long with white to cream-colored markings on the front of the head and at the end of the abdomen. Fortunately, their aggressiveness does not match their appearance, although disturbing a nest or threatening an individual hornet will result in stings; if bothered, they can and will sting repeatedly. Hornets are beneficial predators that feed on other insects, particularly filth flies and blowflies. Nests away from human activity should be left undisturbed.

The hornet colony is contained inside the nest constructed of paper-like material made from chewed wood fibers mixed with saliva. The nest is composed of three or four tiers of combs within a thick, multilayered outer shell. Nests are usually located in wooded areas, attached to a tree branch, but may be attached to shrubs, utility poles or house siding.

A colony of social wasps, like hornets, yellow-jackets and paper wasps, lasts only one year. Each nest is built from scratch each year, and the previous year?s nest cannot be reused.

More on the hornet is on the Web site from which most of this information was taken: www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/bbaldface.html.

For this photo, see the Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, printed edition of The Fairfield Ledger.