# In the United States

By [annalee168](https://paragraph.com/@annalee168) · 2021-10-29

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The [German yellowjacket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespula_germanica) (_V. germanica_) first appeared in Ohio in 1975, and has now become the dominant species over the eastern yellowjacket. It is bold and aggressive and can sting repeatedly and painfully. It will mark aggressors and pursue them. It is often confused with [_Polistes dominula_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polistes_dominula), an invasive species in the United States, due to their very similar pattern. The German yellowjacket builds its nests in cavities—not necessarily underground—with the peak worker population in temperate areas between 1000 and 3000 individuals between May and August. Each colony produces several thousand new reproductives after this point through November.

The eastern yellowjacket builds its nests underground, also with the peak worker population between 1000 and 3000 individuals, similar to the German yellowjacket. Nests are built entirely of wood fiber and are completely enclosed except for a small entrance at the bottom. The color of the paper is highly dependent on the source of the wood fibers used. The nests contain multiple, horizontal tiers of combs within. Larvae hang within the combs.\[[_citation needed_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)\]

In the southeastern United States, where southern yellowjacket ([_Vespula squamosa_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespula_squamosa)) nests may persist through the winter, [colony sizes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_size_measures) of this species may reach 100,000 adult wasps.[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjacket#cite_note-tuscaloosa-5) The same kind of nest expansion has occurred in [Hawaii](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii) with the invasive western yellowjacket (_V. pensylvanica_).

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*Originally published on [annalee168](https://paragraph.com/@annalee168/in-the-united-states)*