Welcome to Utah wasps and bees. It starts with the stinging wasps because they receive the most attention in homes and gardens across the state because of their potential harm to people.
The picture at the top of the page shows the basic umbrella shape of the paper wasp nest.
Western Yellowjacket (ground nester)
Bald-faced Hornet
Black Jacket
Prairie Yellowjacket top
Prairie Yellowjacket side
Blue Mud Dauber
Black and Yellow Mud Dauber
Great Golden Digger Wasp
Elegant Grass Carrying Wasp – Western Spider Wasp comparison
Mexican Grass Carrying Wasp
Prionyx
Hump-backed Beewolve
American Sand Wasp
American Sand Wasp nest
Eumenes Potter Wasp
Cuckoo Wasp
Square-headed Wasp
Lucospis affinis (female)
Carrot Wasp (female)
Male California Velvet Ant
Female California Velvet Ant
Bees
North American hosts approximately one thousand different species, including its most familiar members, honey bees and bumble bees, along with less familiar names such as Cuckoo Bees, Carpenter Bees and Digger Bees.
Brown-belted Bumblebee (side)
Brown-belted Bumblebee (top)
Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (face)
Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (side)
Yellow-fronted Bumblebee (face)
Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee (side)
Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee (top)
California Bumblebee
California Bumble Bee (face)
Western Bumble Bee
Hairless and small in size, Cuckoo Bees family resemble wasps more than they resemble bees, making them among the least known of the family.
The common name cuckoo refers to the bee’s practice of brood parasitism, like it’s namesake in the bird world, the Cuckoo bird. Adults lay their eggs in ground nests of other bee species, and then let the young fend for themselves.
Digger Bee
Blue Orchard Bee
Leaf-cutter Bees (Megachile)
Western Longhorned Bee (face)
Western Longhorned Bee
Longhorned Bee
Oblong Woolcarder Bee
Female European Woolcarder Bee
Male European Woolcarder Bee
Stelis
Northern Rotund Resin Bee
California Digger-cuckoo Bee
Least Cellophane Cuckoo Bee
Red-footed Sharp-tailed Bee
Western Leafcutter Bee
Furrow Bee
Wide-striped Sweat Bee
Fine Lined Sweat Bee (female)
Fine Lined Sweat Bee (male)