In addition to yellow jackets, common wasps in Northeast Ohio include the European paper wasp, northern paper wasp, pipe organ mud dauber, and eastern cicada killer. These four types of wasps differ from yellow jackets in that they are larger and are generally less aggressive. All are common in both urban and rural areas and can sting repeatedly.
Wasps are identifiable by their two sets of wings and dark brown to black hairless bodies. Nests include the hanging paper-like celled nest tucked into protected areas, common to the European and northern paper wasps, and the mud tubes built by the pipe organ mud dauber on the side of walls in a linear pattern that resembles organ pipes. Activity increases in the spring as nests are built and again in the fall in search of winter food.
Most wasps feed their young insects and eat nectar as adults, although the eastern cicada killer feeds its young exclusively cicadas.