Field plate · Polistes spp.
Paper wasp
Long-legged, mahogany wasps under the eaves, building small open umbrella nests. The calmest wasp you will meet — if you leave the nest alone.
Plate 13 of 28. Drawn in profile to the identification marks named below; the scale rule is a drawing convention — sizes are given in the text.
Identification marks
Slender, 15–20 mm, reddish-brown with yellow markings, long legs that dangle visibly in flight. The nest is a single open comb on a stalk, grey paper, with white-capped cells and no outer envelope.
Look-alikes it is confused with
Yellowjackets (stockier, brighter, enclosed nests) and mud daubers (nearly black, build clay tubes, and almost never sting).
Where it hides in a house
Under eaves, porch ceilings, deck rails, window frames, and inside grills and light fixtures stored over winter. New queens start nests in May; colonies stay small, in the dozens.
Health & property risk, stated plainly
A defensive sting at the nest only. Away from the nest paper wasps are hunters of caterpillars and largely ignore people and food. Nests over doorways are the exception worth removing.
What actually works
Leave nests that are out of traffic alone — they are free pest control and die out at frost. For a doorway nest, knock it down on a cool evening after a targeted treatment, remove the anchor point and its paper residue. A foundress chooses her own site next spring; removal simply leaves nothing for her to rebuild on.
What doesn't
Daytime swatting at an occupied nest over a doorway, and removing a nest while leaving its paper and scent for the next queen.
When to call a licensed pro
Call a pro for nests at height, nests inside equipment you need, or any nest where a sting-allergic person passes daily.