Nature By NameSign inCreate an account

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

Western Yellowjacket

Vespula pensylvanica

Learn Western Yellowjacket freeHow it works
Wildlife study photograph from iNaturalist.
(c) amaria1406, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

30 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.

See all photosAdd a photo

Photos you add are credited to you, and you keep the copyright.

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 California.January 706, February 611, March 636, April 789, May 766, June 564, July 795, August 1,207, September 1,440, October 1,240, November 820, December 632.
United States13,982
California10,190
Canada3,287
British Columbia1,995
Washington1,443
Oregon1,217
Colorado1,143
Utah681
Alberta667
Idaho501

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

Create a free accountHow it works