---
title: "Southern Yellowjacket"
description: "Vespula squamosa — Owady i pająki. Vespula squamosa, or the southern yellowjacket, is a social wasp."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pl/animal/southern-yellowjacket
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Southern Yellowjacket

> Vespula squamosa — Owady i pająki. Vespula squamosa, or the southern yellowjacket, is a social wasp.

- Scientific name: *Vespula squamosa*
- Category: `insects` (Owady i pająki)
- Habitats: `urban` (Miasta i ogrody)
- iNaturalist observations: 19498
- Wikidata: [Q15119916](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15119916)
- iNaturalist taxon: [233560](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/233560)

## Names

- en: Southern Yellowjacket
- es: Avispa chaqueta amarilla sureña
- fr: Guêpe jaune du Sud

## Countries with the most observations

US (18332), MX (509), HN (7)

## Summary

Vespula squamosa, or the southern yellowjacket, is a social wasp. This species can be identified by its distinctive black and yellow patterning and orange queen. This species is typically found in eastern North America, and its territory extends as far south as Central America. Within these territories, they create enormous, multiple-comb nests. The colonies may be either annual or perennial depending on the climate, and in many perennial nests, polygyny takes place. In addition, this species uses pheromones both as a sexual attractant and an alarm signal. This species feeds on insects and animal carcasses; it does…

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

## Photo

![Southern Yellowjacket](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/southern-yellowjacket/medium.jpg)

Photo: Austin Pursley · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/45035972

## Machine access

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