Allergens in hymenoptera venom. VII. Species specific reactivity to yellow jacket venoms.

Venom from three species of yellow jacket, Vespula maculifrons, V. squamosa and Vespa crabro, was tested in direct and inhibition of RAST with a panel of 39 sera from three regions of the U.S. V. squamosa venom was found to be missing at least one allergen present in V. maculifrons. Patterns of reactivity were highly correlated with geography; reactivity with V. squamosa correlated with distribution of the species. Sera fron California recognized Vespa crabro; however, the insect is not found west of Indiana. This suggests that there are also some differences in the venom from the western species, V. pennsylvanica. No correlations were found with reactivity to hornet, wasp or bee venoms.