Bald-faced hornet to laying eggs while the workers take over all other necessary housekeeping tasks. At some point, sometime before the midpoint of colony life, the colony will begin to invest energy in producing reproductives as well. This marks the transition into the reproductive stage. There is an extensive time period where both workers and reproductives are raised. Production of both castes limits the size of the work force. However, an early switching time is highly adaptive for social wasp colonies in limiting the risk of total loss. In a sampling of 50 colonies taken in Maryland in 1977, workers were produced
Bald-faced hornet the southeastern United States. Males in this species are haploid and females are diploid. Worker females can therefore lay eggs which develop into males. Matricide might occur after sufficient workers have been raised and queen-destined eggs have been laid, in order to give workers a reproductive advantage. The bald-faced hornet gets its name from the characteristic white markings on its face, as the word "bald" in English is derived from the word piebald. It was first described by Linnaeus in 1763. "D. maculata" is part of the cosmopolitan family Vespidae. It is in the genus "Dolichovespula". Its black and white