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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) » German Yellowjacket (Vespula germanica)

Species Vespula germanica - German Yellowjacket

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Wasp on arm rest of sofa - Vespula germanica Yellow jacket? - Vespula germanica Yellowjacket - Vespula germanica - female yellowjacket - Vespula germanica - female Vespidae: Vespula germanica - Vespula germanica - female Woodpile Nesting German Yellowjackets. - Vespula germanica Yellowjacket - Vespula germanica - female Ground Yellowjacket - Vespula germanica
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 germanica (German Yellowjacket)
Other Common Names
European wasp, German wasp, or German yellowjacket
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Vespa germanica Fabricius, 1793. (1)
Size
13 mm. Workers 12-15 mm
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)
Food
Predators and scavengers of small and large insects or other animals.
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 apparently first appeared in Montreal in the 1960’s.
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
Encyclopedia of Life
Wikipedia
BWARS
PSU.edu.
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].
Contributed by A.W. Thomas on 2 April, 2005 - 9:45am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Matthias Buck, Bbarnd, Ben Coulter
Last updated 9 August, 2016 - 10:48am

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