# How Fast Is A Yellowjacket?

> Yellowjacket top speed is about about 30 km/h. Sprint vs endurance and what limits pace.

- **Species:** Yellowjacket (*Vespula vulgaris*)
- **Conservation status:** Least Concern
- **Diet:** Omnivore (insects, nectar, human food)
- **Habitat:** Woodlands, gardens, and urban areas
- **Lifespan:** Workers a few weeks; queens about one year
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/yellowjacket/how-fast-is-a-yellowjacket/
- **Parent profile:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/yellowjacket/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Quick answer

A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow social wasp that lives in large paper nests ruled by a queen. Unlike bees, it can sting repeatedly. Yellowjackets are useful predators of pest insects but become aggressive scavengers in late summer. Workers live only weeks; the queen survives to start a new colony.

## Who should skip this page

Skip this if you need the full biology — use the [Yellowjacket profile](https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/yellowjacket/) instead.

## A society in a paper nest

Yellowjackets are social wasps that build nests from chewed wood pulp, creating papery combs often hidden underground, in wall cavities, or in bushes. A single queen starts the nest each spring, and the colony can grow to thousands of workers by late summer before dying off in autumn.

## Help protect the Yellowjacket

Even familiar animals lose ground as wild habitat keeps shrinking worldwide.

[Donate to wildlife protection](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/donate/)

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Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/yellowjacket/how-fast-is-a-yellowjacket/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.