Common Name: Blackjacket

Latin Name: Vespula consobrina (Saussure, 1864)

(R. Bercha, det., confirmed by M. Buck)

Length: 10 - 15 mm

Range: Boreal

Habitat: Forested areas

Time of year seen: May to September

Diet: Insects and spiders

Other: The Blackjacket is typically a forest dwelling species that nests in rodent burrows and occasionally above ground in rock cavities, dead trees, and the walls of structures made by humans. Colonies are generally small with up to 150 workers. Adults are strictly predatory and hunt only live prey. Prey includes: spiders, caterpillars, flies, hemipterans and some true bugs. (Marshall, 2006)