Western Yellowjacket Images

Western Yellowjacket Images, Facts and Information:

Vespula pensylvanica

• Western Yellowjackets are medium-sized social wasps with black and yellow banded bodies, distinct black antennae, and a sharply defined waist. Adults measure about ½ inch in length. Females possess a smooth stinger capable of delivering multiple stings.
• Western Yellowjackets are found throughout western North America, from southern Canada through the western United States and into northern Mexico. Western Yellowjackets inhabit forests, meadows, parks, and urban areas. They often build nests in the ground, wall voids, or other sheltered cavities.
• Western Yellowjackets are omnivorous and feed on nectar, fruit, carrion, and other insects. They play an important ecological role as scavengers and predators of pest insects but can be aggressive around food sources.
• Queens establish new colonies each spring, constructing paper nests from chewed wood fibers. Colonies typically contain thousands of workers by late summer. New queens and males are produced in fall, and only the fertilized queens overwinter.
• Western Yellowjackets are sometimes mistaken for honeybees but can be distinguished by their brighter color, smooth bodies, and rapid, aggressive flight.
• A group of yellowjackets can be called a “swarm” or a “colony” of wasps.

I hope you enjoy my Western Yellowjacket photos.