Was scared to get stung!
I did not break/cut this yellowjacket in half. It's a long story about how this happened, and no intentional cruelty was involved. (The pictures kind of disgust me, but I'm posting them for ID purposes and so I can learn more about yellowjackets and their kin.)
I assume this is a queen? Its abdomen looks hairier to me than the abdomens of the (other?) V. maculifrons queens I've come across recently...
This was attracted to a light at night, which I thought a little unusual for a yellowjacket.
Dead individual found outside, it seems like we get these a lot during the begining of the dry season, matching pretty closely the arrival and abundance of the Pantala flavens (wondering glider)
Gathering bark, presumably for a nest.