What Is the Difference Between Wasps and Yellow Jackets

What’s The Difference Between a Yellow Jacket and a Wasp? Yellow jackets are actually the common name of a particular type of wasp. … Yellow jacket species are smaller than other wasps but more aggressive. They’re more likely to sting than other wasps, but their stings hurt less.

How do you tell the difference between a yellow jacket and a wasp?

Yellowjackets have shorter and thicker bodies than paper wasps. Yellowjackets have black antennae. Paper wasps in flight: Paper wasps dangle their long legs when they fly.

Are there wasps that look like yellow jackets?

The European paper wasp, Polistes dominula, has black and yellow markings and looks very much like a yellowjacket (see The Yellowjacket That is Really a Paper Wasp).