A dead fir tree on the south side of the property had broken off and fallen during the winter. Removal of a piece of bark turned up a horde of termites doing a great job of returning the tree to the earth.
Zootermopsis angusticollis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Isoptera
Family: Termopsidae
Genus: Zootermopsis
Species: Z. angusticollis
Zootermopsis angusticollis Hagen, 1858
This one showed up on our deck window this morning. Caution: These wasps are very aggressive when defending their paper-house nest.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae
Genus: Dolichovespula
Species: D. maculata
Dolichovespula maculata (Linnaeus, 1763)
I had not seen this very large wasp until today. Now I realize it is an Eastern Yellow-jacket wasp (Vespula pensylvanica). At this time of years , the queen, the only one to survive the winter, emerges from her overwintering spot and starts to organize for establishing a colony.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Family: Vespidae
Genus: Vespula
Subgenus: (Paravespula)
Species: V. pensylvanica
Binomial name
Vespula pensylvanica Saussure, 1857
