WaspsWasps Index Australian Large Wasps Australian Mud Nest Wasps Mud Wasp Velvet Ants Abispa ephippium Acarozumia amaliae Aulacidae Australodynerus Bembix Bembicinae Bethylidae Blue Hairy Flower Wasp Braconidae Chrysididae Cryptocheilus bicolor (Orange Spider Wasp) Delta latreillei (Potter Wasp) Eumeninae Delta philantes Ferreola handschini (Orange-collared Spider Wasp) Flower Wasps Gasteruptiid Wasp Hairy Flower Wasps Isodontia (Grass-carrying Wasp) Lissopimpla excelsa (Orchid Dupe Wasp) Mutillidae Paralastor sp. Pseudabispa bicolor ssp. nigrocinctoides Radumeris radula (Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp) Radumeris tasmaniensis (Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp) Sceliphron laetum Thynnid Wasps Tiphiidae Torymus Yellow and Black Wasp

Wasps are a diverse grouping of hundreds of thousands of species, being used mainly to describe members of the order Hymenoptera, family Vespidae. Australia is home to thousands of species of native wasps.

When talking about wasps, they are occasionally grouped by their colours, such as the orange and black potter and mud wasps, through to the hairy yellow wasps. Even within a genus, there are variable colours to be found between the different species.

The Potter wasps, once recognised as the family Eumeninae, but now a a subfamily of the family Vespidae, are a cosmopolitan wasp group with a number of variable species. They are solitary wasps, that build mud nest and are typically yellow and black or orange and black in colour (see our orange and black Potter Wasp Delta latreillei and Abispa ephippium). Abispa splendida are a black and yellow wasp.

Paralastor sp. - Alice Springs, NT
family Vespidae, subfamily Eumeninae, genus Paralastor sp.

The genus Paralastor, also of the subfamily Eumeninae, include a number of yellow and black wasps. Although such common description, is very broad, covering wasps that are neither solitary nor mud nest builders.

Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris tasmaniensis), Alice Springs, NT
Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Family Scoliidae, genus Radumeris, species Radumeris tasmaniensis)


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Order: Hymenoptera
  • Superfamily: Vespoidea
  • Family: Vespidae
  • Subfamily: Eumeninae

Footnote & References

  1. Know your wasps, by Kerri-Lee Harris, Atlas of Life, https://atlasoflife.org.au/resources/know-your-wasps
  2. Wasp Photos and Identification, Aussie Bee, https://www.aussiebee.com.au/wasp-photos.html
  3. Bees and wasps, Native and exotic species of wasps and bees, Department of Primary Industries, NSW Government, https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity/plant/bees-and-wasps
  4. Wasps, eWasp, https://ewasp.com.au/insects-and-arachnids/wasps/

WaspsWasps Index Australian Large Wasps Australian Mud Nest Wasps Mud Wasp Velvet Ants Abispa ephippium Acarozumia amaliae Aulacidae Australodynerus Bembix Bembicinae Bethylidae Blue Hairy Flower Wasp Braconidae Chrysididae Cryptocheilus bicolor (Orange Spider Wasp) Delta latreillei (Potter Wasp) Eumeninae Delta philantes Ferreola handschini (Orange-collared Spider Wasp) Flower Wasps Gasteruptiid Wasp Hairy Flower Wasps Isodontia (Grass-carrying Wasp) Lissopimpla excelsa (Orchid Dupe Wasp) Mutillidae Paralastor sp. Pseudabispa bicolor ssp. nigrocinctoides Radumeris radula (Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp) Radumeris tasmaniensis (Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp) Sceliphron laetum Thynnid Wasps Tiphiidae Torymus Yellow and Black Wasp

InsectsBees Beetles Blattodea Butterflies Coleoptera Cicada Crabronidae Diptera Dragonflies & Damselflies Formicidae Hemiptera Heteroptera Moths Orthoptera Orthopteroid Processionary Caterpillar Stink Bugs, Shield Bugs and Allies Wasps Water Scorpion (Laccotrephes tristis) Witchetty Grub