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

Prairie Yellowjacket

Vespula atropilosa

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 Alberta.January 8, February 8, March 12, April 26, May 52, June 42, July 30, August 57, September 51, October 14, November 8, December 8.
United States819
Canada534
Alberta260
British Columbia225
Colorado212
Idaho126
California108
Washington81
Utah66
Oregon66

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