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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Yellowjackets and Hornets, Paper Wasps; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps and allies (Vespoidea) » Yellowjackets and Hornets, Paper Wasps; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps (Vespidae) » Hornets and Yellowjackets (Vespinae) » Ground Yellowjackets (Vespula) » Forest Yellowjacket (Vespula acadica)

Species Vespula acadica - Forest Yellowjacket

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
wasp - Vespula acadica Yellowjacket - Vespula acadica Polistes ? - Vespula acadica - Vespula acadica Wasp 572A 8380 & 8385 - Vespula acadica Forest Yellowjacket worker- nicely marked - Vespula acadica Vespula infernalis?? - Vespula acadica Yellowjacket? - Vespula acadica - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Vespoidea (Yellowjackets and Hornets, Paper Wasps; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps and allies)
Family Vespidae (Yellowjackets and Hornets, Paper Wasps; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps)
Subfamily Vespinae (Hornets and Yellowjackets)
Genus Vespula (Ground Yellowjackets)
Species acadica (Forest Yellowjacket)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Vespa rufa var. americana du Buysson, 1905 (this name, despite being the oldest, is invalid because of homonymy)
Vespa acadica Sladen, 1918.
Vespula rufa var. sladeni Bequeart, 1932.(1)
Explanation of Names
The specific name acadica is possibly a reference to the French colonial region of Acadia, including portions of Maritime Canada, Quebec, and Maine.
Identification
Key to eastern Nearctic Vespula species in the Identification Atlas of the Vespidae of the Northeastern Nearctic Region. (2)
Key to Nearctic Vespinae genera in the Identification Atlas of the Vespidae of the Northeastern Nearctic Region. (2)
Range
Widespread in forests of Canadian zone (and edges of Hudsonian and Transition zones) from Alaska south to Sierras of California and in Rockies south to Arizona and New Mexico. Ranges east across boreal forest to Newfoundland and New England, extending south at higher elevations of Appalachians to North Carolina.(1), (3)
Habitat
Primarily boreal and northern forests.(3)
Food
Adults feed on nectar and other fluids. Larvae are fed masticated arthropods by adults. This species is a member of the Vespula rufa species group, and is strictly predatory.(3)
Print References
Kimsey, L.S. & Carpenter, J.M. (2012): The Vespinae of North America (Vespidae, Hymenoptera). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 28: 37–65; doi: 10.3897/JHR.28.3514.
Internet References
Species page in the Identification Atlas of the Vespidae of the Northeastern Nearctic Region. (2)
Species page in Species-ID.net
Works Cited
1.Checklist of the species of the subfamily Vespinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae)
Carpenter, James M., and Jun-ichi Kojima. 1997. Nat. Hist. Bulletin of Ibaraki Univ. 1:51-92.
2.Identification Atlas of the Vespidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata) of the Northeastern Nearctic Region
Matthias Buck, Stephen A. Marshall, and David K. B. Cheung. 2008. Biological Survey of Canada [Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification].
3.Yellowjackets of America North of Mexico
Akre, R.D., A. Greene, J.F. MacDonald, P.J. Landolt, and H.G. Davis. 1980. U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Contributed by A.W. Thomas on 2 April, 2005 - 9:33am
Additional contributions by Matthias Buck, Ben Coulter, Vox Sciurorum
Last updated 3 September, 2012 - 7:41pm

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