Skip to main content
Bald-Faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata)
Social
80Six Legs
Bug Bite · From the file on Bald-Faced Hornet

Colonies grow to 400-700 workers by midsummer — and the entire colony except new queens dies at first autumn frost.

AgencySmithsonian InstitutionVerified by sources
Read the full file on Bald-Faced Hornet

More Social bites

Eciton Army Ant (Eciton burchellii)
Social
Six Legs81

Over 100 species of birds, butterflies, and other animals have evolved to follow army-ant raids — the most species-rich animal-following community on Earth.

Eciton Army AntVerified by sources
Bullet Ant (Paraponera clavata)
Social
Six Legs92

Bullet ant colonies are surprisingly small — a few hundred to a few thousand workers — compared with the millions of leaf-cutter or driver ants sharing their forest.

Bullet AntVerified by sources
Buff-Tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Social
Six Legs76

Bumblebee colonies live one year — the queen overwinters alone and founds a new colony each spring.

Buff-Tailed BumblebeeVerified by sources
Death's-Head Hawkmoth (Acherontia atropos)
Social
Six Legs82

The famous Silence of the Lambs poster moth is a chrysalis of Acherontia styx — a death's-head cousin.

Death's-Head HawkmothVerified by sources
African Driver Ant (Dorylus wilverthi)
Social
Six Legs82

Driver ants build no permanent nest — the colony moves continuously and bivouacs as a living ant-ball when it stops.

African Driver AntVerified by sources
Emperor Scorpion (Pandinus imperator)
Social
Six Legs71

Emperor scorpion mothers carry 10-30 live young on their backs for the first month after birth.

Emperor ScorpionVerified by sources