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Insects › Hornets, Paper Wasps, Potter Wasps, and Allies

American Yellowjacket

Vespula alascensis

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Wildlife study photograph from iNaturalist.
(c) nuheyenuh, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

28 photos

Study shows up to four per card, from different observers, so you learn the species rather than one picture. Heart the good ones and swap any you do not like.

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Easily confused with

Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.

Where it is recorded

Records by month in Washington.January 68, February 59, March 68, April 90, May 113, June 86, July 102, August 132, September 121, October 94, November 63, December 63.
United States4,812
Canada3,302
Washington1,099
British Columbia869
California821
Ontario624
Quebec596
Oregon348
New York284
Alberta238

Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.

Traits

Behavioral

  • EusocialLives in colonies with division of labor and cooperative brood careFrom its classification

Physical

  • ExoskeletonHas a hard external skeletonFrom its classification

Practical

  • StingingCan deliver a painful stingFrom its classification

Classification

KingdomAnimals · Animalia
PhylumArthropods · Arthropoda
ClassInsects · Insecta
OrderAnts, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies · Hymenoptera
FamilyHornets, Paper Wasps, Potter Wasps, and Allies · Vespidae
GenusGround Yellowjackets · Vespula

Sources

Remember the name next time.

Practise American Yellowjacket with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.

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