yellowjacket

(also ‘yellow-jacket’, and some authorities use a space in between the two words: ‘yellow  jacket’)

a kind of insect – stinging – diurnal (= active during day) – belongs to the wasp family, and closely related to the hornet – small with an exoskeleton (= tough, flexible outer cover) with black and yellow body in three parts: head, thorax and abdomen, yellow or white on the black face with 2 antennae, 2 compound eyes and 3 simple eyes, mouth parts with tough mandibles (jaws) for chewing insects and a proboscis (= long tube-like growth) for sucking up nectar and fruit, black and yellow thorax, 2 pairs of transparent wings (4 wings, but together, seen like only 2), 6 jointed legs, very narrow waist, conical, bulbous, black and yellow striped abdomen, (in all females) a permanent, sharp, barbed sting at the end of the abdomen; size: 0.05 to 1 inch (queen large, drone small and female worker smaller); feeds on insects, spiders and nectar; lives for queen – one year, drone – until one mating (dies soon after mating) and worker – a few days or weeks; several species and sub-species found in temperate regions of the world – mostly in the USA

Special Features:

The yellowjackets are predatory pest insects, i.e. they kill other insects which damage plants and crops in order to feed their larvae!  However, they may be a nuisance during summer trying to feed on the food that people eat!!

Like most wasps, all female yellowjackets have permanent stings with which they can sting repeatedly!

yellowjacket nest

Yellowjackets are social insects and make their nests with a paper-like substance made from chewing wood or plant fibre.  Some species make their nests in trees and some in the ground!

American Int. hockey team logo

Yellowjackets are also popular as their names are used for numerous sport teams and clubs of colleges and universities.

There are several comic characters with the name ‘yellow jackets’!

Figures of Speech:

1.

yellowjacket (noun)  =  a kind of medicine used for causing sleep in patients suffering from severe pain or anxiety

2.

to grin like a fox eating yellow jackets

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