Species Vespula vidua - Widow Yellowjacket

Ground Hornet

Widow Yellowjacket

Vespa vidua de Saussure, 1854(1)

Subsequently reclassified in genus Vespula.

The specific name vidua is Latin for "widow", possibly a reference to the largely black coloration of this species compared to other yellowjackets.

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)

A large yellowjacket with extensive black markings on bright yellow background. Second abdominal tergite with expansive black, generally without pale spots (but see atypical individual here). Free spots often present within yellow fascia on 4th and 5th abdominal tergites.(3) Abdominal tergites including and distal to T2 with only sparse pubescence (more densely hairy on similar V. acadica). Females with black clypeal markings separated from subantennal markings, often broken into three spots, but sometimes more complete.(2)

   

In Canada, from southern Ontario east to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In United States, found in northeast from New England coast west through Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes region to Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and North Dakota, and south along Appalachians and Piedmont to Georgia.(3) Range extensions from BugGuide submissions in North Dakota and Missouri (new state record).

Of three colonies discovered in SW Pennsylvania, two were subterranean, and one was located in the wall of a structure (B. Coulter, pers. ob.)

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 considered strictly predatory, although Richter and Colvin (1994) documented V. vidua scavenging pieces of freshly dead caterpillar.

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.

Species page in the Identification Atlas of the Vespidae of the Northeastern Nearctic Region. (2)

Species page in Species-ID.net