I learned a lesson yesterday. I went to pick a luscious-looking wild blackberry, which was slightly blurry because I didn’t have my close-up (reading) glasses on. All of a sudden, an insect launched from the fruit and was buzzing viciously in my face. I backed off with a lurch and the insect went back to its berry, as you see here:
Yes, Eastern Yellow Jackets (Vespula maculifrons) feed on blackberries. They also are among our most aggressive wasps and known to deliver a very painful sting to humans who annoy them. They eat other insects, but are classified as “frugivores” because they also obtain carbohydrates from fruit, nectar, and honeydew (a sugar-rich liquid secreted by aphids) in the wild.
In recreational areas, they often feast on the dregs of soft drinks and other sugary human foods. In fact, in addition to being aggressive, they can be gluttonous and have been known to get fall-down drunk after consuming too much fermented honeydew. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 23, 2023.)