The subfamily Vespinae contains the largest and best-known

eusocial Eusociality (from Greek εὖ ''eu'' "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generat ...

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

s, including true

hornet Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by th ...

s (the genus ''Vespa''), and the "

yellowjacket Yellowjacket or yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genus, genera ''Vespula'' and ''Dolichovespula''. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of ...

s" (genera ''Dolichovespula'' and ''Vespula''). The remaining genus, ''

Provespa ''Provespa'' is a small genus of Vespidae, made up of nocturnal wasps from Southeast Asia, sometimes referred to as "night wasps" or "night hornets", though they are not true hornets (genus ''Vespa''). They are the only nocturnal members of the ...

'', is a small, poorly known group of nocturnal wasps from

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. One genus, ''

Palaeovespa ''Palaeovespa'' is an extinct genus of wasp in the Vespidae subfamily Vespinae. The genus currently contains eight species, five from the Priabonian stage Florissant Formation in Colorado, United States two from the middle Eocene Baltic amber d ...

'', has been described from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

, from Colorado. Collectively, the group can be found on all continents except

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, and several of these wasps are

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

, introduced beyond their native ranges, and can be major pests. Palaeovespa florissantia

References

Vespidae Biological pest control wasps Extant Eocene first appearances {{Vespidae-stub