Bees & Beekeeping: Present & Past
A Beekeeper’s Introduction to the Other Stinging Insects – Paper Wasps, Yellow Jackets, and Hornets: Part 2
In the previous article, we briefly examined the vast biology of paper wasps and confronted a typical problem with yellow jackets. Here we continue with yellow jackets and finish these descriptions with the European hornet (Vespa crabro).
Currently the European hornet is the most similar social insect to the Asian hornets (which occur as 22 species, all in the same genus Vespa). If these hornet species become established here, expect U.S. apiculture to endure yet another difficulty (see below), following a pattern similar to that occurring in Europe. (The damage would depend on the behaviors of the particular invasive hornet species.)
Although hornet (Vespa) questions may become the most common in the future, typical “wasp” questions have been about yellow jackets, the subterranean species, nesting in lawns or landscapings.
While I am trying to keep the technical terminology to a minimum, here is a small bit to smooth the reading. Yellow jackets nest above and below ground. Concerning underground nests usually no confusion occurs because it is one of the subterranean yellow jacket species. An above-ground nest that presents as a “paper ball” on a tree branch is still a yellow jacket nest. Except some nests are from the bald-faced hornet. Even with its confusing hornet name, bald-faced hornet is in a genus with yellow jackets. A genus is a group of closely related species. More distantly related are the true hornets. Hornets are in the genus Vespa, a group of large predatory wasps.
The term wasp can be used as a generic noun (like car) with an adjective to modify it. For example, we studied paper wasps in the previous article. Reproductives are the female and male wasps capable of mating, typically rearing in late summer. The females called gynes have the ability to mate, survive hibernation (as mated females, or queens), and start their nests in the following spring (as foundresses). In late summer the (adult) European hornet (Vespa crabro) society consists of the following: the foundress (old) queen (sometimes missing), several hundred workers, numerous males (called drones), and gynes (unmated females).
Underground, or in a protected place, a woodpile for example or between the walls of a building, a single foundress yellow jacket queen initiates her nest. To find the nesting site, the foundress searches during the warm days of early spring. Foundress yellow jackets are easy to spot. A large, bright yellow wasp flying low and slow contrasts against the drab ground. Her vivid coloration warns away predators. Quite frequently, she stops to…
