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I've been trying to match this wasp to photos, but it seems like every species has something that doesn't quite match up. I killed it in my home in Indiana, USA. My best guess is a Northern Paper Wasp (Polistes fuscatus). Does that seem right? I read they can sometimes be dark in color like this one.

enter image description here

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It is hard to tell from the image, but using this species key for Polistes wasps, it is reasonable to conclude that your wasp is either P. metricus or P. fuscatus.

If you look at this image of a P. metricus female, you can see the dull reddish markings on the abdomen:

enter image description here

On your image, you can see the same markings on the abdomen, at a different angle:

enter image description here

Based on these markings, your wasp is most likely Polistes metricus. You can read more about this insect here and here.

Here is a link to the image I modified.

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