Parancistrocerus leionotus

Parancistrocerus leionotus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Eumenidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Parancistrocerus leionotus
Photo: Healthy Yards, CC BY

Parancistrocerus leionotus is a potter wasp in the Vespidae family. It builds its nests in tiny cavities found in rocks or concrete.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Parancistrocerus leionotus is a potter wasp in the Vespidae family.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It nests in small cavities in rocks or concrete.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 31 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New York, Ohio, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

JFMAMJJASOND

Source: GBIF

More photos

Parancistrocerus leionotus photo 2
Photo: Peter Chen 2.0, CC BY
Parancistrocerus leionotus photo 3
Photo: Matt Pelikan, CC BY
Parancistrocerus leionotus photo 4
Photo: Peter Chen 2.0, CC BY
Parancistrocerus leionotus photo 5
Photo: Healthy Yards, CC BY

Same family (Eumenidae)

European Paper WaspEuropean Paper WaspPolistes dominulaCan stingNorthern Paper WaspNorthern Paper WaspPolistes fuscatusCan stingMetric Paper WaspMetric Paper WaspPolistes metricusCan stingFour-toothed Mason WaspFour-toothed Mason WaspMonobia quadridensCan stingHunter's Little Paper WaspHunter's Little Paper WaspPolistes dorsalisCan stingFine-backed Red Paper WaspFine-backed Red Paper WaspPolistes carolinaCan sting

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parancistrocerus_leionotus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.