[1] Due to its preference for forests V. acadica does not normally come into contact with humans; however, when colonies are disturbed, workers of this yellowjacket may be quite aggressive and persistent and sting repeatedly.

The wasps within the genus Vespula are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere and are commonly referred to as yellowjackets in North America.

It is very similar in appearance to V. atropilosa but the apex of the middle black region of the second gastral segment is pointed; whereas it is rounded in V.

Its range stretches from Alaska down the West Coast to southern California, and into the southwest United States.

Colonies are characterized by short duration, foraging of live prey only, and a flexible, loosely woven nest envelope.

The largest mature colony found had an adult population of 425 workers, 70 males, and 78 queens and had four combs with a total of 1,791 cells.

However, while these wasps are flexible with regard to roles, there is a noted tendency for workers to specialize in one specific task.

These tendencies are referred to as flexible age polyethism and task fixation, and are common in many Vespinae and Polistinae wasps.

[9] The most dominant task witnessed in workers was inactivity, followed by trophallaxis, nursing, thermoregulation then defense and foraging, in that order.

If the queen is unreceptive, she will curl her gaster toward her head to form a C-shape to prevent penetration and use her legs to dislodge the male.

This is because by favoring offspring that are close relatives, this individual can increase the likelihood of its genes being passed into the next generation.

While these findings may indicate variation within Vespula species regarding conflict resolution and paternity, more research must be carried out in order to fully understand these implications.

These most commonly occurred when a worker was trimming a cap remnant or antennating an emerging individual which is a behavior usually carried out by the queen.

In most cases, workers will begin the process of cell inspection but then back down and allow the queen to finish trimming a cap and then to oviposit.

However, the queens are much larger in size than males which suggests sex allocation is biased towards females in a significant ratio.

However, after worker emergence the queen was less vigorous in her defense of the nest, and parasites were more likely to successfully usurp the colony.

Also, workers are known to take on an immobile stance on the envelope or the edges of the comb during substrate vibrations of the nest.