Paravespula

Paravespula
German wasp
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Suborder:	Apocrita
Family:	Vespidae
Genus:	Vespula
Subgenus:	Paravespula Blüthgen, 1938

Paravespula is a small subgenus of yellowjacket wasps, including some of the best-known wasp species in the world: the German wasp, Vespula germanica; the Eastern yellowjacket Vespula maculifrons; the Western yellowjacket Vespula pensylvanica; the common wasp, Vespula vulgaris;. It is occasionally treated as a separate genus, but this is not widely accepted.

These particular wasps have a tendency to make underground nests with the opening usually showing from a crack in a wall or an opening in a small grass hill, which makes it quite difficult to locate to get the colony removed. The wasps are aggressive and usually attack if their nest is threatened.