Yellow Oriental Paper Wasp

Polistes olivaceus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Eumenidae

Also called: Macao Paper Wasp, Paper wasp

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Yellow Oriental Paper Wasp
Photo: Rohit, CC BY-SA

In the Cook Islands the wasp is called the yellow paper wasp in English and "Rango Patia" in Cook Island Maori.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

In the Cook Islands it is known as the yellow paper wasp in English and "Rango Patia" in Cook Island Maori.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range is India and East Asia.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Hawaii.

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

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Yellow Oriental Paper Wasp photo 3
Photo: Addie, CC BY
Yellow Oriental Paper Wasp photo 4
Photo: Jonathan Kade, CC BY
Yellow Oriental Paper Wasp photo 5
Photo: Chris Sulots, CC BY
Yellow Oriental Paper Wasp photo 6
Photo: unknown, CC0

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/Polistes_olivaceus

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 2026-10-22.

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.