white-faced hornet

noun

plural white-faced hornets

: bald-faced hornet

In the orchard dwells another cabbageworm predator, the white-faced hornet.

—Cass Peterson

Nest defense by white-faced hornets is formidable, because these wasps—with their relatively huge food resources conspicuously suspended—have had a long evolutionary history perfecting their response to perceived threats.

—Bernd Heinrich

Word History

First Known Use

1863, in the meaning defined above