Eastern Yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons)
CENTRAL FLORIDA CRITTER OF THE DAY: Eastern Yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons)
This wasp feeds on nectar and as shown here, fruit juice from berries.
Beneficial, destroying pest insects of cultivated and ornamental plants to feed larvae, but give a wide berth….will aggressively defend nest, can sting multiple times and the sting is painful.
It builds its nest below the ground.
Learn: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Vespula_maculifrons/
Learn more: https://bugguide.net/node/view/11564
Shown on Florida Native Plant: WILD LIME; LIME PRICKLYASH (Zanthoxylum fagara)
My take: https://floridawildlifegardentails.wordpress.com/2016/10/31/the-worms-crawl-in-but-do-they-swim/
really enjoying the ripe fruits
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Central Florida Critter of the Day 
Considering wild lime … thorns … not sure but from what i’ve read it’s pretty beneficial. I had a yellow jacket nest in the bottom of a whiskey barrel planting up North. I had placed a rock underneath the barrel to even it out because it was on a slope. One day I was watering it and just like bugs bunny, a swarm flew out, made the shape of an arrow and came after me! (Kidding about the arrow part.) I got away with just one tiny sting to my foot. The barrel sits on solid ground forever more.
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The wild lime is a buzz this week. To many species to count….and many too fast to photograph 😉
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