Are Southern Yellow Jackets Acting Differently?
Previous research also provides other scintillating clues. It is known, for example, that southern yellow jacket queens will occasionally invade the nest of another species, eastern yellow jackets, stinging the eastern queen to death and taking up permanent residence. The eastern yellow jacket workers then accept the queen as their own. Ray says its possible that southern yellow jacket queens have begun parasitizing their own species — in other words, invading southern yellow jacket nests in much the same way as eastern yellow jacket nests. Its also conceivable that the sheer sizes of these nests attract new queens, he says. Still, Ray emphasizes that this, like most everything else associated with these nests, remains only conjecture — for now, at least. Marvels of Nature In the meantime, Ray, no stranger to odd insect behavior, continues to marvel at these nests. The nest in the 1955 Chevy in Elmore County, which filled virtually the entire front and rear seats, was truly amazing
