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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Vespoidea » 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 · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Vespula germanica with Yellow Striped Grasshopper - Vespula germanica Yellow Wasp - Vespula germanica German Yellowjackets - Vespula germanica Vespula germanica - female Vespula ( maybe V. flavopilosa or V. gemanica)? - Vespula germanica Nest Removed From Ceiling. - Vespula germanica Vespula germanica - Vespula germanica Just like the prior submission - Vespula germanica - 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
Family Vespidae
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 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].
3.The Vespinae of North America (Vespidae, Hymenoptera)
L.S. Kimsey and J.M. Carpenter. 2012. Journal of Hymenoptera Research Vol. 28: 37–65.
Contributed by Tony on 2 April, 2005 - 9:45am
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Matthias Buck, Bbarnd, Ben Coulter, Nick Block, PaleoJon
Last updated 25 March, 2024 - 11:23am

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