Bald-faced hornet arthropods, chewing them up and feeding them to the larvae. They have been known to scavenge raw meat. In late summer and early fall, the queen begins to lay eggs which will become drones and new queens. After pupation, these fertile males and females fly off to mate. Fertilized queens then overwinter and start new colonies during the next year. Males and workers die in the end of the cycle. The old queen, if not killed by workers, dies with them around mid autumn. Bald-faced hornet Dolichovespula maculata is a eusocial wasp of the cosmopolitan family Vespidae. Its colloquial names
Bald-faced hornet and colonies whose work force diminishes too early in the colony's life cycle will suffer a greater overall total loss in reproductives. A colony is divided into sterile males, female workers and the queen. All females are born with reproductive capacities. Caste systems are determined by larval feeding regime. G.T. Felippotti examined caste distribution amongst females in five small cell colonies and six large cell colonies. Small cell colonies had one queen and 17–21 female workers. Large cell colonies had 2–6 queens and 10–52 workers. Morphological comparisons revealed that queens are always larger than workers in the same colonies. Cuticular