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Yellowjacket Wasp
Names
- Different
names for these social insects -
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Summary: In the US the term yellowjacket
refers to a group of social wasps that
build large nests both above ground (aerial
nests) or below ground (ground
nests). Common names, in addition to
yellowjacket, include ground bees, garbage
bees, and hornets.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
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Wasp
is a general term for any one of thousands of
species of predatory and parasitic Hymenoptera,
which includes wasps, ants, and bees. There are
tiny parasitic wasps no larger than a gnat,
solitary thread-waisted wasps [picture] and social wasps
with colonies that rival bee hives in complexity.
A yellowjacket is a particular type of
social wasp in one, or a few, specific wasp genera
such as the genus Vespula (see Yellowjacket
Wasps).
Common
names tend to vary somewhat by region and can be
very confusing. For example, there is a wasp
called the "baldfaced hornet" [picture] that actually
belongs to one of the genera that in the US we
call yellowjackets (Vespula and Dolichovespula).
We should probably call this insect the "baldfaced
yellowjacket". True "hornets", on the other hand,
are in the genus Vespa. Confused? It
actually gets worse...
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A typical yellowjacket,
or social wasp. Common names
include yellow jackets, bees, hornets,
ground hornets, and garbage bees.
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In
some countries the term yellowjacket is not used at
all and is mostly replaced by the phrase "social
vespids" or "social wasps" or simply "wasps".
The phrase, social wasps, refers to those
wasps that build large, complex colonies in which
there is a queen, workers and a division of labor.
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Problem yellowjackets
In
the US, the term yellowjacket generally refers to
social wasps in the genera Vespula and
Dolichovespula. While most species of
yellowjackets go unnoticed, a few get our attention
because they are potentially dangerous pests. Problems
arise when the wasps seek to share our picnic food or,
more importantly, sting us when they see us as a
threat to the colony.
Two
closely related species, Vespula vulgaris (common
yellowjacket) and Vespula germanica (European
or German yellowjacket) [picture], are probably the most
frequently encountered "problem" yellowjackets
worldwide. Western North America has an additional
species, Vespula pensylvanica or the western
yellowjacket. All these species build mostly
underground nests and have adopted a scavenger
habit which brings them into conflict with
people (see Why
are Scavenger Yellowjackets More Dangerous?).
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Other common wasp names
There
are other names used to describe what the social wasps
do such as "garbage bees" and "ground bees".
Yellowjacket wasps that have adopted the scavenger
habit often forage around garbage cans looking for
food, hence the name "garbage bees". Likewise, many
scavenger colonies build their nests below ground,
hence the name "ground bees". The term hornet
is often used interchangeably with yellowjacket but
experts reserve the term for a few particular wasps,
only one of which occurs in the US. Finally, the term
"bee" should only be used for another group of
non-predatory, pollen-collecting Hymenoptera, the true
bees, such as honey bees, carpenter bees, and
bumble bees.
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Jack DeAngelis,
Ph.D.
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