Pest Gallery

Yellow Jackets: Vespula

Yellow jackets are the smallest (about ½-inch long) of the common Vespids. Most species typically build their nests underground, so workers will come and go from the nest via an earthen tunnel which ends in a hole at the soil surface. Yellow jacket nests resemble hornet nests. As many as several thousand workers may be produced in a colony in one season. Most yellow jackets will forage exclusively on live prey such as flies, caterpillars, while some will forage on meat from carcasses, and garbage. Yellow jackets will also forage on sources of sugars or other carbohydrates such as beer, fruit, or sweet beverages.

Yellow jacket workers tend to be somewhat unpredictable in their response to humans who approach the nest. Often, a person approaching the nest is completely ignored, but sometimes a person simply walking nearby is stung. Many experts consider yellow jackets to be the most dangerous of the social Hymenoptera in the United States because of their nesting and foraging behavior, and the prevalence of allergic people.

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