Vespula squamosa
| Southern yellowjacket | |
|---|---|
_(7225863346).jpg) |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Vespidae |
| Subfamily: | Vespinae |
| Genus: | Vespula |
| Species: | V. squamosa |
| Binomial name | |
|
Vespula squamosa (Drury, 1773) |
|
Vespula squamosa, the southern yellowjacket, is a social wasp. This species can be identified by its distinctive black and yellow patterning and orange queen. These yellowjackets are typically found in the eastern United States, and its territory extends as far south as eastern Mexico and Guatemala. Within these territories, they create enormous, multiple-comb nests. The colonies may be either annual or perennial depending on the climate, and in many perennial nests, polygyny takes place. In addition, this species uses pheromones both as a sexual attractant and an alarm signal. This species feeds on insects and animal carcasses; it does not produce honey.V. squamosa, a social insect, has developed a parasitic relationship with the species V. vidua and V. maculifrons. Due to their painful, venomous stings, the species is considered a pest.
V. squamosa is commonly called the southern yellowjacket. This species was discovered by Dru Drury around 1770. It is a member of the Vespidae family, which includes paper wasps (subfamily: Polistinae), pollen wasps (subfamily: Masarinae), potter and mason wasps (subfamily: Eumeninae), and yellow jackets (subfamily: Vespinae). The Vespidae family has about 4000 species, the majority of which are not social. Within the Vespinae subfamily, however, the roughly 80 species are all eusocial, including V. squamosa. They create either annual or perennial nests, and some species, including V. squamosa, are parasites to other Vespinae species. Within the subfamily of Vespinae, the four genera are Provespa, Vespa, Dolichovespula, and Vespula. Within the Vespula genus are 18 species. The southern yellowjacket is fairly closely related to V. maculifrons (eastern yellowjacket), and V. squamosa is a social parasite of V. maculifrons.V. squamosa is also closely related to V. rufa.
...
Wikipedia