Any one of numerous species of stinging hymenopterous insects, esp. any of the numerous species of the genus Vespa, which includes the true, or social, wasps, some of which are called yellow jackets.

social or solitary hymenopterans typically having a slender body with the abdomen attached by a narrow stalk and having a formidable sting

A close relative of honey bees, usually in the family Vespidae; they are carnivorous, some species preying on bees (see also, Hornet).

an insect of the order Hymenoptera, usually with a hard shiny body, usually with biting mouthparts, and a predatory or parasitic life style

A wasp is any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is not a bee or an ant. Less familiar, the suborder Symphyta includes the sawflies and wood wasps, which differ from the Apocrita by having a broad connection between the thorax and abdomen. Also, Symphyta larvae are mostly herbivorous and "caterpillarlike", whereas those of Apocrita are largely predatory or "parasitic" (actually more technically known as parasitoid).