# Regional faunas of yellowjackets
Yellowjackets of the genus *Vespula* are wasps whose species composition differs sharply from one region to another: about 50 species are recognized worldwide.[1](https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yellow-jacket) This article compares the *Vespula* faunas of North America, Europe, and [East Asia](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-asia), and examines the introduced [Southern Hemisphere](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-hemisphere) populations where European species have become dominant pests.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Global diversity | About 50 yellowjacket species are recognized worldwide.[1](https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yellow-jacket) |
| North America | 13 *Vespula* species occur north of Mexico (14 in North America including Mexico's borderlands, one of them exotic).[2](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6b7c/eb72053daaed04bed6bcfdf7175415e5d8ff.pdf) • [3](https://idtools.org/hornet_screening/index.cfm?entityID=2798&packageID=1099) |
| Native range of *V. germanica* | Europe and North Africa to eastern Siberia, China, and Korea, south to Israel, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India.[4](https://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/bmc_05/92v_germanica.html) |
| Introduced range of *V. germanica* | Iceland, New Zealand, Australia, Ascension Island, South Africa, Chile, and Argentina.[4](https://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/bmc_05/92v_germanica.html) |
| Eastern North American pests | *V. maculifrons* and *V. germanica*; in the West, *V. pensylvanica* and *V. alascensis*.[1](https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yellow-jacket) |
## What counts as a regional fauna
A regional yellowjacket fauna is the set of *Vespula* species (and their close relatives in the subfamily Vespinae) that live and breed in a defined area. Worldwide about 50 species are recognized; 17 of them are native to Canada alone.[1](https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yellow-jacket) Species richness within North America likewise peaks in the northern United States and southern Canada.[3](https://idtools.org/hornet_screening/index.cfm?entityID=2798&packageID=1099)
## North America
The *Vespula* fauna of North America north of Mexico comprises 13 species, alongside six *Dolichovespula* and three *Vespa* species; no Holarctic (species native across northern Eurasia and North America) *Vespula* species are recognized in that revision, with forms such as *V. alascensis*, *V. intermedia*, and *V. infernalis* treated as distinct North American species.[2](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6b7c/eb72053daaed04bed6bcfdf7175415e5d8ff.pdf) A diagnostic screening tool gives 14 *Vespula* species for North America, of which one, the German yellowjacket (*V. germanica*), is exotic.[3](https://idtools.org/hornet_screening/index.cfm?entityID=2798&packageID=1099)
**The German yellowjacket's invasion** is a well-documented change to this fauna. *V. germanica* was first collected in North America in 1891 at [Ithaca, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/ithaca-new-york), and remained rare until the late 1960s, when it entered a period of rapid range expansion.[4](https://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/bmc_05/92v_germanica.html) It was recorded in eastern North America in the 1960s and reached southern [British Columbia](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-columbia) by the mid-1980s.[5](https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/documents/Checklist%20of%20the%20Yellowjacket%20and%20Paper%20Wasps%20of%20BC%20RAC%20revised%2020Oct2018.pdf) Provincial records trace the expansion: the first Ontario record was June 1971 (four workers at Harrow), and the first Manitoba record September 1976.[4](https://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/bmc_05/92v_germanica.html) It is now established from Vermont to Maryland, west to Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, plus Washington and California, and in Canada in Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba.[4](https://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/bmc_05/92v_germanica.html) It is especially common in Ontario and Quebec.[1](https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yellow-jacket)
**Pest dominance differs east and west.** In the northeastern United States, *V. germanica* and the native [eastern yellowjacket](https://www.edgepedia.org/eastern-yellowjacket) (*V. maculifrons*) are the most common pest yellowjackets.[4](https://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/bmc_05/92v_germanica.html) In the West, *V. pensylvanica* is the most abundant pest species of *Vespula* on the West Coast and much of the interior west; it nests in cavities in the ground or in structures, and its nests can become huge and often perennial in warmer climates.[2](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6b7c/eb72053daaed04bed6bcfdf7175415e5d8ff.pdf) Canadian summaries match this split: *V. maculifrons* and *V. germanica* are the major nuisance species in the East, with *V. pensylvanica* and *V. alascensis* the main pests in the West.[1](https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yellow-jacket) Other native species have more restricted ranges, such as *V. maculifrons* in eastern North America and *V. squamosa* in the eastern United States and parts of Mexico and [Central America](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-america).[6](https://extensionentomology.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/04/Yellowjackets-and-Hornets.pdf)
Two exotic *Vespa* hornets, *V. affinis* and *V. simillima*, have also been introduced into North America,[2](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6b7c/eb72053daaed04bed6bcfdf7175415e5d8ff.pdf) and one East Asian *Vespula* species was introduced into British Columbia but has apparently not become established.[2](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6b7c/eb72053daaed04bed6bcfdf7175415e5d8ff.pdf)
## Europe and the Western Palearctic
*V. germanica* is native across Europe and North Africa to eastern Siberia, China and Korea, extending south to Israel, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India.[4](https://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/bmc_05/92v_germanica.html) The evidence base for the rest of the European *Vespula* fauna is thin in the sources used here; the native European species list and the status of the *V. rufa* group and of *V. austriaca* in Europe are not settled by these sources.
The social-parasite element of the fauna is documented from the North American side of the Holarctic: three of Canada's yellowjacket species are social parasites, and in *V. austriaca* and *Dolichovespula adulterina* the parasite queen kills the host queen and forces the host workers to raise her males and reproductive females.[1](https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yellow-jacket)
European populations also serve as the baseline for comparing colony development.
## Introduced populations in the Southern Hemisphere
*V. germanica* has been introduced to Iceland, New Zealand, Australia, Ascension Island, South Africa, Chile, and Argentina.[4](https://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/bmc_05/92v_germanica.html) It was established in the United States by the late 1960s, as well as in southern South America, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand.[3](https://idtools.org/hornet_screening/index.cfm?entityID=2798&packageID=1099)
**New Zealand's two-wave history** shows faunal succession among introduced yellowjackets.
## How the regions compare
Three patterns stand out from the regional record.
**Species richness is northern and temperate.** About 50 species exist worldwide, 17 of them native to Canada,[1](https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yellow-jacket) and within North America the largest number of species occurs in the northern United States and southern Canada.[3](https://idtools.org/hornet_screening/index.cfm?entityID=2798&packageID=1099)
**Different species fill the pest role in each region.** Eastern North America's nuisance wasps are the native *V. maculifrons* and the introduced *V. germanica*;[4](https://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/bmc_05/92v_germanica.html) the West's dominant pest is *V. pensylvanica*, whose nests can become huge and perennial in warmer climates.[2](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6b7c/eb72053daaed04bed6bcfdf7175415e5d8ff.pdf)
Introduced populations often outperform source populations. BugGuide's summary notes that where *V. germanica* has been introduced, it often spreads more successfully than over its native range,[7](https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/14083) and the colony-size comparison bears this out: Australian nests average over 9,500 small cells against 6,100–6,500 in the [British Isles](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-isles), and Australian nests can overwinter while English ones cannot.
## References
1. Yellowjacket, The Canadian Encyclopedia, https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yellow-jacket
2. Kimsey & Carpenter (2012), The Vespinae of North America, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 28: 37–65, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6b7c/eb72053daaed04bed6bcfdf7175415e5d8ff.pdf
3. Vespula, North American Hornet Screening Tool, https://idtools.org/hornet_screening/index.cfm?entityID=2798&packageID=1099
4. Vespula germanica, Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification, https://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/bmc_05/92v_germanica.html
5. Checklist of the Yellowjacket and Paper Wasps of British Columbia, https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/documents/Checklist%20of%20the%20Yellowjacket%20and%20Paper%20Wasps%20of%20BC%20RAC%20revised%2020Oct2018.pdf
6. Yellowjackets and Hornets, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, https://extensionentomology.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/04/Yellowjackets-and-Hornets.pdf
7. Species Vespula germanica, BugGuide.Net, https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/14083
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Animals › Invertebrates › Arthropods › Insects › Bees, wasps, and ants › Aculeata: bees, wasps, and ants › Social wasps (Vespidae) › Yellowjackets (Vespula) › Yellowjackets by region*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license