Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus, 1758)

The common wasp usually forms large colonies below ground, but occasionally nests may be made in wall cavities, hollow trees and attics (1). Queens emerge from hibernation during the spring, and they search for a suitable location in which to start a new colony. She then begins to build the nest with chewed up wood pulp, which dries to make a papery substance. A few eggs are laid, which develop into non-reproductive workers. These workers eventually take over the care of the nest, and the queen's life is then devoted solely to egg laying (4). At the end of autumn a number of eggs develop into new queens and males, which leave the nest and mate. The new queens seek out suitable places in which to hibernate, and the males and the old colony (including the old queen) die (4). The developing larvae are fed on insects which the workers bring back to the nest. Few people are aware of the role the common wasp plays in keeping the populations of many insect pests under control. The adults require high-energy sugary foods such as nectar and fruit; they also feed on a sugary substance exuded by the larvae (4). The main reason that wasps are so feared is their sting, which can be quite painful, and can be used more than once, unlike those of bees. The sting has evolved from a modified ovipositor, a structure used in egg-laying, and so only workers (which are all females) are able to sting (4).

The common wasp is a familiar and much feared social insect (3). They are quite large insects, with an obvious 'waist' between the thorax and abdomen. They have bright yellow and black bands along the body, two pairs of wings and fairly long, robust antennae. The sting is located at the tip of the abdomen (4). The queens (reproductive females) are larger than workers (non-reproductive females) (2).

This species is black with yellow markings. Yellowjacket resemble to Vespula germanica but its face lacks of black spots present in German wasp. The workers sizes oscillate between 12 and 17 mm, queens 15 to 20 mm. Head: malar space less than half as long as penultimate antennal segment; occipital carina incomplete, it reach mandible base; workers with a black mark behind the eyes; wide black stripe between the corona and ocular sinus. Mesosoma: yellow pronotal bands parallel. Metasoma: apex of seventh tergite of male depressed, shaft of aedeagus with a acute tooth of each side to base of terminal spoon (Miller 1961). Xanthic workers rarely with evanescent enclosed yellow spots on tergum 2 (Buck et al. 2008)

The Yellowjacket is a Holarctic species with transcontinental distribution in Neartic region, this species is found in North and Centre America, Europe and Asia (Miller 1961). This species was introduced species to Hawaii, Iceland, New Zealand and Australia (Carpenter & Kojima, Kweskin 2000, Rodriguez-Palafox 1996). Canada: all provinces and territory less Nunavut. United States: Northern and western. Mexico: Ciudad de Mexico, Durango, Michoacan and Oaxaca (Buck et al.1981).