Yellow Jackets

[Michael L Roginsky]

Vey well done Roger.......I saved it for posterity. Cheers..:) Micro.


In <DzyMxt.68C at cix.compulink.co.uk> rwhitehead at cix.compulink.co.uk
("Roger Whitehead") writes: 
>
>
>Here is part of Gene's emailed reply to me, which I post with his 
>permission:
>
>Yellow jackets are black and yellow striped wasps
>which build nests in the ground.  They feed on both
>plant and animal material.  They are colonial with
>many infertile females as in bee's hives. Each nest
>only lasts from spring to fall. Only fertile 
>females overwinter to start a new nest the 
>following year. Near the end of the season the 
>workers seem to get more touchy about their nests
>and as the colonies have built up to contain over
>100 workers, they can be hard to deal with.
>
>These wasps are related to the hornets of Europe, also belonging
>to the family Vespidae.  Hornets are _Vespa_;  ground nesting
>yellowjackets are _Vespula_.  Various species are involved.
>_Vespula_  build 'paper' nests that are structurally identical
>to those shown in cartoons where someone hits the ovoid
>nest hanging in a tree and the wasps come swarming out, 
>however these are completely beneath the ground with only
>a hole with YJs emerging from it to mark their presence.  The 
>aerial nest builders are in another genus _Dolichovespula_.  
>
>Roger
>
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