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Aerial Yellowjacket

Dolichovespula arenaria

Aerial yellowjacket visiting small white flowers

Builds enclosed paper nests above ground, often in trees. It is less likely to bother a picnic than scavenging ground nesters, but will vigorously defend a disturbed nest.

A nest above ground

Look for an enclosed paper nest among branches or on a sheltered structure. Its outer envelope hides the brood combs; this is different from the exposed cells of a paper wasp nest.

A different yellowjacket neighbor

Aerial yellowjackets hunt other insects and are less likely to gather around picnic food than western yellowjackets. That difference does not make an occupied nest safe to disturb.

A seasonal colony

A queen starts the colony, workers raise later broods, and new queens carry the population through winter. Avoid cutting or pruning around an active nest.

Advice for sharing space with wasps

Learn More

Read the university identification and biology guide

Explore WSU’s regional colony lifecycle (PDF, 2003)

Photograph & license

Aerial Yellowjacket — Ryan Hodnett. CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

The photograph illustrates this species or group; it was not necessarily taken in Oregon.

Solitary wasp

A solitary wasp has no colony of workers helping raise her young. A female may stock her own nest cells with food, or find a host for her developing offspring. Solitary describes social life; parasitoid describes a feeding strategy. A wasp can be both.

Social wasp

Social wasps share a nest and cooperate in raising young. In yellowjacket and paper wasp colonies, reproductive females lay eggs and workers help feed the brood and maintain the nest. They can defend that nest, so observing a forager is different from approaching a colony.

Non-native Social wasp

This is a social wasp introduced beyond its natural range. In this case the European paper wasp was introduced to North America from Europe, probably hidden in shipping materials. Non-native describes its origin, while social describes colony life.