Vespula

Taxobox
name = Vespula

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image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
familia = Vespidae
subfamilia = Vespinae
genus = "Vespula"
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =23 species

"Vespula" is a small genus of social wasps, widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. Along with members of their sister genus "Dolichovespula", they are collectively known by the common name yellowjackets (or yellow-jackets) in North America. "Vespula" species have a shorter oculo-malar space (shown in the figure below) and a more pronounced tendency to nest underground than "Dolichovespula".

Notable species

* Two of the common European species (the German wasp, "Vespula germanica" and the common wasp, "Vespula vulgaris") have been established in North America, southern Africa, New Zealand, and eastern Australia.

* The Eastern Yellowjacket, "Vespula maculifrons", and Western Yellowjacket, "Vespula pensylvanica", are native to North America.