Hobbies And Interests
Physical Appearance
Yellow jackets get their name from their body colors, which generally consist of bright yellow jagged, stripe-like patterns on a black background. While this is the coloration of most yellow jackets, there are a couple species that have white patterning as opposed to yellow.
Yellow jackets have thin, cinched-looking waists and elongated wings, like many wasps. However, unlike common wasps, yellow jackets' wings fold laterally when they are resting, The size of adult yellow jackets ranges from 0.47 to 0.63 inches in length, not including their legs.
Habitat
While yellow jackets can be found in various places around the world (sometimes by different common names), they primarily inhabit the Northern Hemisphere. They live in a variety of urban environments such as under steps and porches; around bushes, railroad ties and low-hanging branches; and in sidewalk cracks and the corners of buildings. Yellow jackets will also make their home in abandoned burrows, such as those left by rodents.
Nests
Nests are primarily made from wood fibers mixed with saliva, and can range in size from handheld homes to ones that weigh 1,000 lbs. Yellow jacket colonies begin with one reproductive female/queen called the foundress. Colony populations can grow as large as 15,000 individuals, depending on the climate, environment and species.
Yellow jacket nests usually begin construction in the spring and die off in the winter, lasting only one season. However, nests that survive multiple seasons grow to enormous proportions and contain several egg-laying queens. Yellow jacket species from the Dolichovespula genus primarily build exposed nests -- such as in tress -- thus are called "aerial yellow jackets" or "aerial nesters." Vespula yellow jackets typically build nests that are located underground and in other concealed cavities.
Diet
Yellow jackets are predators that primarily eat flies, beetle grubs, spiders and other insects, including many varieties that are considered pests. However, yellow jackets are also scavengers that will eat fish, meat and sugar-based substances. Additionally, adult yellow jackets commonly consume nectar and pre-chewed bugs for their larva to feed off of.
Taxonomy
Yellow jackets can also be identified by their full scientific classification or taxonomy, which is the kingdom Animalia, phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Hymenoptera, family Vespidae, genus Dolichovespula or Vespul, and about 40 species distributed among two genuses.