---
title: "Common European Yellowjacket"
description: "Vespula vulgaris — Insects & spiders. Vespula vulgaris, known as the common wasp, is a species of wasp found in regions that include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, India, China, New Zealand and Australia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/common-european-yellowjacket
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Common European Yellowjacket

> Vespula vulgaris — Insects & spiders. Vespula vulgaris, known as the common wasp, is a species of wasp found in regions that include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, India, China, New Zealand and Australia.

- Scientific name: *Vespula vulgaris*
- Category: `insects` (Insects & spiders)
- Habitats: `urban` (Towns & gardens)
- iNaturalist observations: 29399
- Wikidata: [Q260482](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q260482)
- iNaturalist taxon: [127777](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/127777)

## Names

- en: Common European Yellowjacket
- de: Gemeine Wespe
- es: Avispa común
- fr: Guêpe commune
- nl: Gewone wesp
- pl: Osa pospolita

## Countries with the most observations

GB (5827), DE (3154), NZ (2402), RU (1342), NL (948), FR (796), DK (774), FI (586), PL (561), AT (554), BE (431), CZ (251)

## Summary

Vespula vulgaris, known as the common wasp, is a species of wasp found in regions that include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, India, China, New Zealand and Australia. It is sometimes known in English as the European wasp, but the same name is used for the species Vespula germanica or German wasp. In 2010, the ostensibly Vespula vulgaris wasps in North America were found to be a different species, Vespula alascensis.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespula_vulgaris

## Photo

![Common European Yellowjacket](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/common-european-yellowjacket/medium.jpg)

Photo: ArthurVZ · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/393179793

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/common-european-yellowjacket?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).