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Species Vespula germanica - German Yellowjacket

wasp - Vespula germanica - female Which Yellowjacket? - Vespula germanica - male - female German Yellowjackets at a Nest - Vespula germanica German Yellowjacket - Vespula germanica - female yellowjacket? - Vespula germanica - female German Yellowjacket Nest with Larvae and Pupae - Vespula germanica - female Vespula germanica 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
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
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.
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.