Executioner Wasp vs Large Garden Bumble Bee

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Executioner Wasp Large Garden Bumble Bee
Scientific Name Polistes carnifex Bombus ruderatus
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Vespidae Apidae
Size 25-35 mm 14-24 mm
Habitat Grasslands Farmland
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Central America, South America Europe, New Zealand, South America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Executioner Wasp

The largest Neotropical paper wasp, with a sting that produces immediate searing pain and potentially causes tissue necrosis. It builds open comb nests.

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Did You Know?

Some entomologists consider its sting more painful than the bullet ant, placing it among the most painful in the insect world.

Large Garden Bumble Bee

A long-tongued bumble bee introduced to New Zealand in the early 1900s to pollinate red clover. They have one of the longest tongues of any bumble bee species.

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Did You Know?

They were intentionally shipped from England to New Zealand because they were the only bees with tongues long enough to pollinate red clover.