▲The taxonomic history of ''N. vespilloides'' is complex. It was first formally described by the German entomologist and naturalist [[Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst]]. In 1783 Herbst's description was published in his ''Kritisches Verzeichniss meiner Insectensammlung'', part of the fourth [[wikt:Heft|heft]] of Zurich bookseller Johann Caspar Fuessly's ''Archiv der Insectengeschichte''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herbst |first=Johann Friedrich Wilhelm |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/44317#page/234/mode/1up |title=Archiv der Insectengeschichte |date=1783 |publisher=Bey dem Herausgeber und bey Heinrich Steiner und Comp., |volume=4 |location=Winterthur : |pages=32 |chapter=Kritisches Verzeichniss meiner Insectensammlung}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Griffin |first=Francis J. |date=1937-07-01 |title=THE "ARCHIV DER INSECTENGESCHICHTE" OF J. C. FUESSLY. HEFT 1-8, 1781-1786 |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/jsbnh.1937.1.3.83 |journal=Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=83–85 |doi=10.3366/jsbnh.1937.1.3.83 |issn=0037-9778 |access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref> Since then