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Species Vespula germanica - German Yellowjacket
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
Family Vespidae (Hornets, Yellowjackets; Paper, Potter, Mason, and Pollen Wasps; and Allies)
Subfamily Vespinae (Hornets and Yellowjackets)
Genus Vespula (Ground Yellowjackets)
Species germanica (German Yellowjacket)
Other Common Names European wasp, German wasp, or German yellowjacket Synonyms and other taxonomic changes Vespa germanica Fabricius, 1793. (1) Explanation of Names Vespula germanica (Fabricius, 1793)
germanica = from the New Latin germānica (discovered or common in Germany)
Size Body: 13 mm. Workers 12-15 mm
Forewing length: workers 7.5–12.0 mm, queen 13.0–15.0 mm, drone (male) 12.0–13.0 mm (2)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)
Queen (♀♀) Worker (♀) Male (♂) Range introduced to North America (Canada: MB, ON, QC; United States: TN to VT to OR to CA) (2), ( BugGuide data). Native to Eurasia, also introduced to Argentina, Australia, Chile, Iceland, New Zealand, and South Africa. (2)Food Predators and scavengers of small and large insects or other animals, which are used as larval provisions. (2)(3)Life Cycle A single queen starts a nest in the spring. Colonies can reach thousands of individuals.
Females are polyandrous. Remarks Native to Europe, Northern Africa, and temperate Asia. It was first recorded in New York in the 1890s (2), Montreal in the 1960s, (3), and Ontario and Manitoba in the 1970s. (2) Where it has been introduced, it often spreads more successfully than it has over its native range. 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 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. | The Vespinae of North America (Vespidae, Hymenoptera)
L.S. Kimsey and J.M. Carpenter. 2012. Journal of Hymenoptera Research Vol. 28: 37–65. | |
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