http://www.ck12.org Chapter 14. Understanding Biodiversity: Animals: Invertebrates
to perfumes and fragrances based on a flower odor. If a scent smells like a flower, then they naturally follow the
scent. Some fly species try to mimic the yellowjackets, by having the same colours, or stripes as them, in order to
create the same fear that wasps give, and be left alone. Most people are fooled by their disguise. A full yellowjacket
nest can have up to 600-800 workers.
Anatomy and Physiology
Yellowjackets don’t have red blood like humans. Their blood, which is called the hemolymph, is colorless and very
different from the blood of humans. Human blood and yellowjacket blood, both are water reservoirs, and bring
nutrients, waste, and hormones. Their blood has no oxygen flowing through it, unlike humans. A yellow jacket’s
heart is located in the back of their abdomen, whereas humans have their hearts in the front of their chest. The heart
of a yellow jacket also has little importance. They don’t need it to flow blood throughout their body. Blood squeezes
through the inner parts of the insect, throughout the body.
Behavior
Unlike bees, the yellowjacket wasp does not produce honey. Yellowjackets are social wasps, which means they live
in hives or wasp communities. The queen wasp lays all the eggs, so she keeps the workers from laying eggs. In the
spring, females create a tiny nest and bring food daily to the larvae in it until it grows up. Females serve as workers,
increasing the nest size and caring for the young. In the summer, the males have unfertilized eggs and mate. After
the cold weather comes in, all yellowjackets die except for mated females.
References
- http://naturebytesvideo.com
- http://www.ck12.org
- http://www.eol.org
- http://www.illinois.edu
- http://www.pestworldforkids.org
Attribution
Authors
- Zion Lynch
Supervising Faculty
- Amy Huff Shah
Affiliation
- Museum School, San Diego, California