Dolichovespula is a small genus of social wasps distributed widely throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The yellow and black members of the genus are known by the common name yellowjackets (or yellow-jackets) in North America along with members of their sister genus Vespula. Others like the Bald-faced hornet are black and white.

A set of morphological differences distinguishes them from Vespula. The most noticeable is the long face (dolikhos = long Gr.). Viewed from the front Dolichovespula faces are long, Vespula faces are short and round. The oculo-malar space is the distance between the eye and the mandible. In Dolichovespula the space is long, in Vespula short.

Dolichovespula nests are usually aerial while Vespula often nest underground.

Species

• Dolichovespula adulterina (Buysson, 1905) – parasitic yellowjacket
• Dolichovespula alpicola Eck 1984 – Rocky Mountain aerial yellowjacket
• Dolichovespula arenaria (Fabricius, 1775) – aerial yellowjacket
• Dolichovespula asiatica Archer, 1981
• Dolichovespula baileyi Archer, 1987
• Dolichovespula carolina (Linnaeus, 1767)
• Dolichovespula flora Archer, 1987
• Dolichovespula kuami Kim, 1996
• Dolichovespula lama (Buysson, 1903)
• Dolichovespula maculata (Linnaeus, 1763) – bald-faced hornet
• Dolichovespula media (Retz., 1783) – median wasp
• Dolichovespula norvegicoides (Sladen, 1918) – Arctic yellowjacket
• Dolichovespula norwegica (Fabricius 1781)
• Dolichovespula omissa (Bischoff, 1931)
• Dolichovespula pacifica (Birula, 1930)
• Dolichovespula panda Archer, 1980
• Dolichovespula saxonica (Fabricius, 1793) – saxon wasp
• Dolichovespula stigma Lee 1986
• Dolichovespula sylvestris (Scopoli, 1763) – tree wasp
• Dolichovespula xanthicincta Archer, 1980

References

"Dolichovespula". http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/hymenoptera/apocrita/vespidae/dolichovespula/index.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 

Figure showing oculo-malar space

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