German Yellowjacket or German Wasp

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German Yellowjacket or German Wasp

German Yellowjacket or German Wasp

General Description

·  Yellowjackets are are sometimes mistakenly referred to as paper wasps because they build grey paper nests.·        They are 1.3-1.5 cm long, black and yellow in color.

· The body is slightly wider than the head.

Credit: pjt56
  • There is a yellow band behind the compound eye.
  • The face has three small black spots, and the antenna is long and black.
  • The dorsal surface of the thorax is black with no stripes down the middle.
  • The abdomen of the female has 6 segments and 7 segments in the male.
  • The legs are yellow, and the wings are clear.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

  • The queen emerges from hibernation and initiates a nest in the spring.
  • The queen mates with up to 7 males.
  • The colony grows rapidly during the summer (July and August) with an increase in worker numbers and nest size (more than 4,000 wasps, and more males than workers).
  • The old queens die off in the fall and the colony collapses, and the new queen begins hibernation.
  • The nests may survive through the winter and reach the next season.
  • Yellowjackets are found in ponds, lakes, and swimming pools.
  • They enter yards because they smell food (meats and sweets) or other attractants (pests attracting to grills and waste cans in outdoor picnics).
  • Workers can be predators and scavengers.
  • They are efficient at hunting for small, live food sources.
  • As scavengers, they make many trips between the location of the nest and the food source.

Damages and Economic & Medical Implications

  • The species is considered a public health threat in urban areas.
  • Yellowjackets do not cause structural damage to homes. They may build nests in attics or walls and chew through drywall to enter living spaces.
  • They defend themselves if disturbed.
  • They are aggressive defenders of their colonies.
  • They are not quick to sting, but their sting is painful. Each insect may sting several times.
  • Stings induce severe allergic reactions.
  • Severe pain or burning at the site lasts 1 to 2 hours.
  • No deaths are attributed to yellowjackets.