Polistes fuscatus, whose common name is the golden or northern paper wasp, is widely found throughout southern Canada, the United States, and Central America. It often nests around human development. However, it greatly prefers areas in which wood is readily available for use as nest material, therefore they are also found near and in woodlands and savannas. The Polistes fuscatus is a social wasp that is part of a complex society based around a single dominant queen along with other cofoundresses and a dominance hierarchy.