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 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