Types of Yellow Jackets
Yellow jackets are a yellow and black wasp that lives in colonies housed inside an enclosed nest. The nest is centered around a queen, which lays the eggs, and workers, which care for them and maintain the nest. Discover some basic facts of five species of yellowjacket: the common, the tree, the eastern, the western and the German/European.
Other People Are Reading
-
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
-
The common wasp lives in underground nests, inside trees and buildings. They have a black mark behind the eye and a dagger shaped black mark on the face. They have black dots and fused, black rings on their abdomens. They raid honeybee nests for their honey and compete with them for nectar.
Tree Wasp (Dolichovespula sylvestris)
-
The tree wasp builds its nest in trees and other areas above ground. It has six bands of black rings on its abdomen, decreasing in size from the thorax. This group of wasps has a characteristically long face, distinguishing it from those in the Vespula family.
-
Eastern Yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons)
-
Vespula maculifrons, or the Eastern Yellowjacket builds its nests underground. It ranges from half an inch long to nearly three-quarters of an inch. Their abdomens have thick, black bands accented by a thin sliver of yellow. They have a special tongue to collect nectar and special jaws to kill caterpillars.
Western Yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica)
-
Vespula pensylvanica or the Western Yellowjacket is a predatory wasp that has a complete yellow ring around each compound eye. It is native to the western half of the temperate forests, shrublands and urban areas of North America. It builds its nest in open areas and is a frequent pest to picnic areas.
German Yellowjacket (Vespula germanica)
-
Vespula germanica, or the German Yellowjacket, has narrow black bands around its abdomen and arrow-shaped markings that go down its length.The workers average about one-half inch long and the queen measures nearly three-quarters inch long. They eat sugary fluids, spiders, insects and pieces of dead animals.
-
