Eastern Yellowjacket

Fascinating facts about the Eastern Yellowjacket

• Vespulakinins, a family of bradykinin-like peptides, were first discovered in the eastern yellowjacket. Researchers Yoshida and colleagues identified several members, including vespulakinin 1 and vespulakinin 2, in 1976. All members of this peptide family act as insecticidal agents, and scientists note they could have practical applications for humans.
• A single large eastern yellowjacket nest can reach 94-300 mm in diameter and hold between 10 000 and 15 000 cells. Less than one-third of those cells are specialised queen cells, so the majority are devoted to worker brood. This massive cell count allows the colony to support hundreds to thousands of workers within the fragile, paper-like envelope.
• Eastern yellowjackets use an alarm pheromone that is chemically attached to their sting apparatus, so a sting instantly releases the signal. The pheromone triggers a rapid defensive response, causing nearby workers to swarm the nest entrance in a characteristic zig-zag flight pattern.
• The facultative social parasite Vespula squamosa can respond to the eastern yellowjacket's alarm signal, showing the two species share similar pheromone chemistry. This allows squamosa to infiltrate V. maculifrons colonies and exploit the defensive response.
• During the mating period, males of V. maculifrons gather in loose leks, with hundreds to thousands patrolling prominent trees and bushes. They fly around the vegetation in a random, wide-area patrol rather than staying on a few trees, constantly searching for receptive queens. When a male spots a female, he approaches in a zigzag flight, lands on a leaf and climbs onto her gaster from behind to copulate.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Eastern Yellowjacket

In the warm, languid air of summer, the Eastern Yellowjacket dances with purpose, its bright yellow and black stripes a warning to potential predators as it flits from flower to flower in search of sweet nectar. With a fluid, almost ethereal motion, it navigates the intricate social hierarchy of its colony, a complex world of cooperation and communication that underlies its very existence. As it moves through the world, the Eastern Yellowjacket is a paragon of industry and diligence, its remarkable social structure a testament to the enduring power of community and cooperation in the natural world.

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