from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Any of various widely distributed social insects of the family Vespidae, which includes certain wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets.
- adj. Of or belonging to the family Vespidae.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- adj. Characteristic of the wasp family Vespidae; wasplike
- n. Any social insect of the family Vespidae including wasps and hornets
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A member of the hymenopterous family Vespidæ.
- Having the characteristics of or belonging to the family Vespidæ.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. mostly social nest-building wasps
New study rewrites evolutionary history of vespid wasps
Scientists at the University of Illinois have conducted a genetic analysis of vespid wasps that revises the vespid family tree and challenges long-held views about how the wasps’ social behaviors evolved.