Despite naming P. florissantia as the type species Cockerell noted that not all features of the genus were discernible in the P. forissantia holotype.

[3] At the time of description in 1906, the holotype for P. florissantia was the largest single hymenopteran specimen that Cockerell had seen from the Florissant Formation.

[3] Also notable to P. scudderi are the strong vertical striations on the lateral prothorax lobes, a feature not seen in the other Palaeovespa species that Cockerell described in 1906.

[3] Cockerell named P. scudderi for Samuel H. Scudder who was the first North American paleoentomologist and collector of numerous Florissant Formation insects.

The vein structure of the wings is very similar to that of P. scudderi, while the base of the abdomen is smaller than that of modern Vespa species.

[2][4] The species was named in 1909 by Cockerell in a paper describing a number of fossil Hymenoptera housed in the University of Königsberg amber collections.

[5] The wing vein characters were considered distinct enough to discount the possibly of the P. wilsoni holotype being a variant specimen of P.

[5] Cockerell coined the specific name "wilsoni" in honor of the owners of the Wilson ranch who aided in the fossil-collecting efforts.

P. relecta is noted for having abdominal coloration close to that of modern Vespa, possessing an abdomen that is mostly black with narrow light sutural bands.

[2] The holotype is a 12.8-millimetre (0.50 in) long female specimen, number H-10-175 in the Poinar Amber Collection housed at Oregon State University.

[2] Of the two other described Baltic amber Vespinae species, the triangular arrangement of the ocelli separate P. socialis from Vespa dasypodia.

The holotype specimen is preserved with a small section of tissue with prolegs with crochets clenched in the mandibles, indicating the larvae used caterpillars as a source of protein.

[2] Oldest known species, described from the Thanetian Menat Formation, a diatomite crater lake deposit in France[7]