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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)

Subfamily Vespinae - Hornets and Yellowjackets

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Works Cited
Southern Yellowjacket (Queen) - Vespula squamosa - female D. maculata on pear - Dolichovespula maculata - female Bald-faced Hornet - Dolichovespula maculata Hornet - Dolichovespula maculata Yellow Jacket - Vespula alascensis Hornet - Vespula vidua Vespidae ? - Vespula alascensis - male yellow jacket - Vespula squamosa
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)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
our fauna revised in(1); summary of changes made since(2):
Two exotic spp. introduced: Vespa affinis Linnaeus and Vespa simillima (Smith)
One new species described: Dolichovespula alpicola Eck (AK-AB to AZ-NM along the Rocky Mts)
Several species previously considered Holarctic are not found in both North America and the Palearctic. Records of Vespula vulgaris, Vespula austriaca, Dolichovespula adulterina, and D. norwegica actually refer to Vespula alascensis (Packard), Vespula infernalis (de Saussure), D. albida (Sladen), and D. arctica (Rohwer), respectively; Vespula intermedia (du Buysson) should be used instead of Vespula rufa(1)
Numbers
20 established spp. (of which 2 are adventive) in 3 genera in our fauna(1)
plus records of 3 additional adventive spp. of Vespa that failed to become established: V. simillima (~1997), V. affinis (2010), & V. mandarinia (2019-2021).
Identification
Key to North American genera(3)
Key to spp. in(1); an older but still helpful key in(2)
key to species with images in the Guide(4)

Comparison of face structure:
   
Dolichovespula Vespula Vespa
Range
worldwide
Food
Larvae eat mostly caterpillars. Adults take nectar.
Life Cycle
Social wasps. They build paper nests surrounded by an envelope.
Works Cited
1.The Vespinae of North America (Vespidae, Hymenoptera)
L.S. Kimsey and J.M. Carpenter. 2012. Journal of Hymenoptera Research Vol. 28: 37–65.
2.Yellowjackets of America North of Mexico
Akre, R.D., A. Greene, J.F. MacDonald, P.J. Landolt, and H.G. Davis. 1980. U.S. Department of Agriculture.
3.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].
4.YELLOWJACKETS & HORNETS THROUGH A LENS
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Tony-2, Matthias Buck, v belov, PaleoJon
Last updated 25 April, 2023 - 1:20am

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