Anyone know what kind of wasp this is?

[Jesse Greenawalt]

I have wasps that seem to be nesting near my home entrance. They look like bald faced hornets (black & white, short thin waist, ~1" long) from the pictures I've seen, but I can't find a nest. The activity in the daytime (maybe 2 dozen wasps) leads me to think the nest is under our porch (raised 15 inches off the ground). But I can find no nest. I think I've seen a couple abdomens sticking out of carpenter bee holes, though! I've never heard of any kind of wasp inhabiting carpenter bee nests, but one thing's for sure - I haven't seen any carpenter bees in the last few weeks, and I usually have a lot of them. Is this just a coincidence and I haven't spotted the nest?

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Jesse G.

[Jesse Greenawalt]

Sorry to reply to my own post, but I've taken a couple of shots so you can see them.

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) Sorry to reply to my own post, but I've taken a couple of shots so you can see them. :) :)

You might try posting at sci.bio.entomology.misc I have seen that wasp before, also entering carpenter bee chambers. Can't think of the name of it for the life of me though.

[Beecrofter]

Here we get a large fly like predator with mottled wings cleaning out carpenter be holes CT USA