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Common names: European wasp, German wasp, German yellowjacket
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Vespula germanica
CLASS l ORDER I FAMILY: Insecta / Hymenoptera / Vespidae
METAMORPHOSIS: Complete
Vespula germanica, commonly known as the German or European wasp, is a social wasp species. In introduced regions, where it is often more successful than in its native range, it efficiently exploits important food resources, such as nectar and insects, that native fauna may depend on. V. germanica displays many characteristics that make a species a successful invader and a new colony can be established from a single inseminated female.
Description
Adult V. germanica are 12mm to 17mm long (queens may be up to 20mm long) with a blackish brown pedunculate abdomen and bright yellow stripes. They have strong black markings including an arrow-shaped mark down the middle of the abdomen a black spots on either side. Wings are long and translucent, legs are yellow and antennae black. Antennae are divided into 12 or 13 segments depending on gender (males have 13) and the abdomen is divided into 6 or 7 segments also depending on gender (males have 7). Females are equipped with an ovipositor
Occurs in:
agricultural areas, natural forests, planted forests, scrub/shrublands, urban areas
Habitat description
V. germanica usually nests underground in holes dug in the soil. Alternatively it may construct its nest in the crevices of tree trunks or stacked materials or in compost or hedges. In urban areas the possibilities are even greater and wasps often nest in walls, roof spaces or other convenient gaps in buildings. In urban areas, 30% of nests are located in buildings while in rural or forested areas up to 100% of nests are found in the ground. (The nest is nearly always concealed from view and has a 2 to 3 cm wide opening. The cells and walls of the nest are made from bits of young wood and tree bark, which are chewed by the worker and mixed with saliva to form a special paste used to fabricate the nest, which may be the size of a football.
V. germanica may invade both disturbed environments and natural ecosystems. In Patagonia (Argentina) V. germanica is present in native beech forests in low densities. It has been noted that human activities that fundamentally change environments may encourage wasp colonization; in the Rio Negro valley (also in Argentina) fruit production and irrigation have made food and water resources unexpectedly plentiful for wasps and has thus favoured their establishment.
It is suggested that climate is an important determinant of invasion success. A slightly longer wasp-activity season exists in the warmer parts of Australia than in the cooler parts. V. germanica is sensitive to prolonged extreme temperatures and is restricted to the temperate regions of Asia. Vespula spp. may be suppressed by high rainfall and low temperature as underground nests are susceptible to flooding.
General impacts
Vespula germanica have a range of impacts; economic, health and environmental. They are considered to be an economic pest of primary industries such as beekeeping, forestry and horticulture. For example, wasps totally destroyed or seriously affected 10% of beehives, which translated to a significant financial loss. They can be a major social pest as they disrupt people’s enjoyment of the outdoors and the operation of some schools. Furthermore they have a painful sting and are a threat to human health. Vespula germanica and are polyphagous, opportunistic predators, feeding mostly on other insects. They will collect sugary solutions such as honeydew, and are well known scavengers. In Australia they may have a detrimental effect on native invertebrates via predation and competition. In scrubland-pasture habitat in New Zealand, large over wintered colonies account for much of the biomass of prey consumed. High densities of wasp foragers are created causing a local predation pressure on prey and a depletion of carbohydrate sources. The continuous activity of these colonies reduces the opportunity for the prey species to recover.
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