Facts: Yellow Jacket Wasps
Name: Vespula
Appearance: Yellow jackets get their common name from the bold yellow and black markings on their bodies, and also occasionally appear with black and white coloring. Unlike bees, yellow jackets have thin, narrow waists and elongated wings. ½” to 1” in length.
Habit: While most yellow jackets are known to be ground-nesters, they can and will form nests in a variety of places, including both below and above ground nesting sites. They are often seen nesting in sidewalk cracks, in and around outdoor structures, underneath roof eaves, and underneath wooden porches.
Health/Damage Concerns: Yellow jackets are known to be aggressive when disturbed, especially when near the colony site. They are able to inflict painful stings that can cause serious allergic reactions in some people, making them a danger when a nesting site is near a populated area.
Diet: Yellow jackets are beneficial insects. The larvae feed on other insects, insect larvae, and other proteins that are captured by the adults. The larvae convert this protein into “honeydew”, a sweet, sugary substance, which is feed on by the adults. When people see yellow jackets hovering around the grill during the early spring/summer time, they are actually seeing the adults forage for food for the larvae. The adults themselves eat sweet, sugary substances and are well feed most of the early summer by the larvae’s honeydew. It is only later in the summer when the larvae no longer produce their honeydew, that the adults begin to scavenge for any sugary substance they can find like soda, beer, and other sweets.
Reproduction: Colonies of yellow jackets can become quite large, especially in instances of mild winters. The colony consists of workers that are sterile adult females and a queen. Males will appear in late summer to mate with the fertile females that will eventually become queens. The females will then hibernate until next summer. Males and workers will eventually disappear as the temperature begins to drop.
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