# Identification

By [lake1618](https://paragraph.com/@lake1618) · 2021-10-29

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Yellowjackets may be confused with other wasps, such as [hornets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet) and [paper wasps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_wasp) such as [_Polistes dominula_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polistes_dominula). A typical yellowjacket worker is about 12 mm (0.47 in) long, with alternating bands on the abdomen; the queen is larger, about 19 mm (0.75 in) long (the different patterns on their abdomens help separate various species).

Yellowjackets are sometimes mistakenly called "[bees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee)" (as in "meat bees"), given that they are similar in size and general coloration to [honey bees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_bee), but yellowjackets are actually wasps. In contrast to honey bees, yellowjackets have yellow or white markings, are not covered with tan-brown dense hair on their bodies, and do not have the flattened, hairy pollen-carrying hind legs characteristic of honey bees (although they are capable of pollination).[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjacket#cite_note-2)

Yellowjackets have lance-like stingers with small barbs, and typically sting repeatedly,[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjacket#cite_note-Akre-1) though occasionally a stinger becomes lodged and pulls free of the wasp's body; the [venom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venom), like most [bee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_sting) and wasp venoms, is primarily dangerous to only those humans who are [allergic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allergic) or are stung many times. All species have yellow or white on their faces. Their mouthparts are well-developed with strong [mandibles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandible_\(insect_mouthpart\)) for capturing and chewing insects, with [probosces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proboscis) for sucking nectar, fruit, and other juices. Yellowjackets build nests in trees, shrubs, or in protected places such as inside man-made structures, or in soil cavities, tree stumps, mouse burrows, etc. They build them from wood fiber they chew into a paper-like pulp. Many other insects exhibit [protective mimicry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protective_mimicry) of aggressive, stinging yellowjackets; in addition to numerous [bees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee) and [wasps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp) ([Müllerian mimicry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCllerian_mimicry)), the list includes some [flies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly), [moths](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moth), and [beetles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetle) ([Batesian mimicry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batesian_mimicry)).

Yellowjackets' closest relatives, the hornets, closely resemble them but have larger heads, seen especially in the large distance from the eyes to the back of the head.

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*Originally published on [lake1618](https://paragraph.com/@lake1618/identification)*