Page 179 - Florida Pest Control Examinations

YELLOW JACKET YELLOW JACKET ADULT

Photo Courtesy of UNIVAR Photo Courtesy of UNIVAR

Photo Courtesy of UNIVAR Photo Courtesy of UNIVAR

1.Antenna- 2 6.Thorax
2.Eyes- compound 7.Petiole YELLOW JACKET
3.Head 8.Abdomen- banded
4.Legs- 6 9.Color- yellow & black 6
5.Wings- 2 pairs, folded 10.Other
Life Cycle 1 8
In the spring, queens lay single eggs in each cell of a nest, about 10-20 eggs
at the beginning. The nest may eventually contain 25,000-30,000 eggs. When
larvae hatch, she feeds them pre-chewed meat or food fragments as they grow
and fill the cell. They become pupae using the cell to form cocoons. The larval 2 7
and pupal periods take about a month. The nest gets larger throughout the
summer as new females become workers, and 3,000 to 15,000 individuals can 5
be in it at one time. New queens hibernate over the winter and start a new nest
in the spring. Drawing by Andrew Schaible
YELLOW JACKET
Actual size 3/4”
Yellow jackets are social colonizers with a queen/worker structure. Yellow jacket queens are
more than an inch long, the workers are a little shorter--about 3/4th inch, and all have a typical
pattern of black and yellow markings. Yellow jackets usually construct a subterranean nest, but
occasionally build them in wall voids, attics and above ground sites. Their numbers are great in
public camps in mountain areas. Wasp outbreaks are believed to be the result of mild winters
and an early spring. These insects are most adversely affected by severe spring weather. In hot
weather, wasps seek water wherever it is spilled or in the wet sand of beaches along the shores
of mountain lakes. Adult wasps feed on nectar, honeydew, fruit juices, sap or similar substanc-
es. The larvae are given protein food by the adults and in return secrete a sugar substance on
which the adults feed. Typical foods for the larvae consist of other insects and spiders, if the
wasps are predators, or bits of meat from any source, if they are scavengers.

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