Editing Vespula (section)

{{Short description|Genus of social wasps}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = ''Vespula''
| image = European wasp white bg.jpg
| image_caption= [[German wasp]] (''Vespula germanica'')
| taxon = Vespula
| authority = [[Carl Gustaf Thomson|Thomson]], 1869
| type_species = ''Vespa austriaca''
| type_species_authority = [[Georg Wolfgang Franz Panzer|Panzer]], 1799<ref name = Carpenter>{{cite journal | author1 = James M. Carpenter | author2 = Jun-ichi Kojima | name-list-style = amp |year = 1997 | title = Checklist of the species in the subfamily Vespinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae) | url = http://research.amnh.org/iz/f/Carpenter_Kojima_1997_ves.pdf | journal = Natural History Bulletin of Ibaraki University | volume = 1 | pages = 51–92}}</ref>
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
23 species
| synonyms = *''Pseudovespa'' Schmiedeknecht 1881
*''Allovespula'' Blüthgen, 1943
*''Rugovespula'' Archer, 1982
}}

'''''Vespula''''' is a small [[genus]] of [[eusocial|social]] [[wasp]]s, widely distributed in the [[Northern Hemisphere]]. Along with members of their [[sister taxon|sister genus]] ''[[Dolichovespula]]'', they are collectively known by the [[common name]] [[yellowjacket]]s (or yellow jackets) in [[North America]]. ''Vespula'' species have a shorter oculomalar space (shown in the figure below right) and a more pronounced tendency to nest underground than ''Dolichovespula''.