Recently, I took a hike in Gothe State Forest that led me to a large patch of beautiful, little, pink tamarisk flowers that was filled with plenty of pollinators including honeybees, thynnid wasps, Ammophila wasps, delta scarab beetles, and longhorn beetles just to mention a few. Another pollinator that I found that same afternoon was this pretty little fine backed red paper wasp (Polistes carolina), also often called a red wasp or red paper wasp. I really like the reddish orange color of this wasp with it’s contrasting black wings. Like other paper wasps, it makes it’s nests out of chewed plant material and saliva. The nest structures can be pretty complex and also quite beautiful. This time of year the breeding season is done, but some of the last generation of wasps will form a hibernaculum to share body heat through the winter and eventually become next year’s queens. These ladies have to be well fed before they enter this dormant stage, and tamarisk is one of the autumn flowers that helps get them ready.