Common Carder Bee vs Neotropical Paper Wasp

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Common Carder Bee Neotropical Paper Wasp
Scientific Name Bombus pascuorum Polistes canadensis
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Apidae Vespidae
Size 9-18 mm 25-30 mm
Habitat Underground Woodlands
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Western Europe, Central Europe, Northern Europe Central America, northern South America, Caribbean
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Common Carder Bee

A fluffy ginger-brown bumblebee that builds nests on the ground surface using moss and grass. It has one of the longest flight seasons of any European bumblebee.

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Did You Know?

Workers 'card' moss fibres over the nest like wool, which gives the species its common name.

Neotropical Paper Wasp

A large reddish-brown paper wasp with dark wings that builds open-comb nests under eaves and branches. It is one of the most common social wasps in the Neotropics.

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Did You Know?

This was the first wasp species shown to recognize individual nestmates by their unique facial markings.