Vespula alascensis

{{Short description|Species of yellowjacket}}

{{Speciesbox

| name= Common yellowjacket

| image = Vespula alascensis.jpg

| genus = Vespula

| species = alascensis

| authority = Packard, 1870

}}

Vespula alascensis, also referred to as common yellowjacket, is a species of yellowjacket that inhabits North America. Although it was named in 1870, it was, until 2010, treated as a taxonomic synonym of a related species, Vespula vulgaris, but is now recognized as a distinct taxon.{{cite web|last1=Carpenter|first1=James M.|last2=Glare|first2=Travis R.|title=Misidentification of Vespula alascensis as V. vulgaris in North America (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Vespinae)|url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/6074/N3690.pdf|website=AMNH Research Library Digital Repository|publisher=American Museum of Natural History|accessdate=23 April 2023|format=PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803073039/https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/6074/N3690.pdf|archive-date=2012-08-03}} Generally it nests in the ground.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/medical-and-veterinary-entomology-2019 |title=G.R. Mullen & L.A. Durden 2019: Medical and veterinary entomology. |year=2019 |pages=461 |language=en |accessdate=2022-07-31}}