Ropalidia distigma

Ropalidia distigma · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Vespidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Ropalidia distigma
Photo: Alan Manson, CC BY

These wasps build paper nests that hang vertically and contain cells that run horizontally. They live in southern and southeastern Africa and their larvae eat soft-bodied insects such as caterpillars.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The nests are oriented vertically with horizontally arranged cells.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

Polistes wasps make horizontal nests with vertical cells, unlike this species.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Ropalidia distigma photo 3
Photo: Alan Manson, CC BY

Questions people ask

How can I tell this wasp apart from similar ones?

Its nest hangs vertically with horizontal cells, while Polistes nests are horizontal with vertical cells.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Vespidae)

European HornetEuropean HornetVespa crabroCan stingBald-faced HornetBald-faced HornetDolichovespula maculataCan stingGerman YellowjacketGerman YellowjacketVespula germanicaCan stingEastern YellowjacketEastern YellowjacketVespula maculifronsCan stingYellow-legged HornetYellow-legged HornetVespa velutinaCan stingWestern YellowjacketWestern YellowjacketVespula pensylvanicaCan sting

Sources

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

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

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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