| German Wasp (Vespula germanica (Fabricius, 1793)) |
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Scientific name: Vespula germanica (Fabricius, 1793) Common name: German Wasp Other names: European Wasp, German Yellow Jacket. French name: Guêpe germanique, Guêpe européenne Order: Hymenoptera Family: Vespidae Wingspan : Workers: 12 to 16 mm; Males: 13 to 17 mm; Queen: 17 to 20 mm. Biotope: Various habitats, forests, meadows, gardens, etc. Geographic area: Europe, North Africa. Introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand. Observation period : Female queens having over wintered appear about at mid-March. Female workers appear in early summer and can fly up to mid-November. Other females and males also grow in summer. Mated females will over winter while male and female workers will die at the first cold days. |
The German Wasp is a rather large size social wasp. The abdomen, of 6 segments on females and of 7 segments on males, is yellow with black stripes and spots. There are four yellow spots at the rear of the thorax. The yellow stripes on the side of the prothorax are extended downwards in the middle. Like for all wasps, a front view of the face is key for telling the species apart. The members of the Vespula genus have a short face. The malar space is very short, that's to say the lower edge of the eye almost touches the mandible. You can tell the German Wasp apart with the three small black dots forming a triangle on the clypeus. You can sometimes observe variations with only one dot or one vertical line with one dot on each side. The eye notches and the back of the eyes are yellow. Males have antennae with 13 articles. Females have antennae with 12 articles. The nests, under the ground or high but always in a dark place, can contain more than 5000 wasps. They are grey with lighter stripes. The wasps of the Dolichovespula genus differ by their long head (large distance between the lower edge of the eye and the mandible). The Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) is very similar. However it shows an anchor-shape black mark on the clypeus and the yellow stripes on the side of the prothorax are not extended downwards in the middle. |
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The bottom of the eye is very close to the mandible. So this one is a wasp of the Vespula genus. You can't see the black marks on the clypeus covered with pollen. The yellow stripe on the side of the prothorax, extended downwards in the middle, indicates the German Wasp. |
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The 6 segments of the abdomen and the 12 articles of the antennae indicate one female. |
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There are long but sparse hairs on the thorax. |
André Bon June 2013