They aren’t terms, they are name’s. Secondly wasp is the overriding suborder, their order belongs to the same ones that contain ants and bees. That said the word wasp is therefore correct for both hornets and yellow jackets. Science cannot be argued with.
Calling a hornet a yellow jacket is incorrect, that is what the author did. They are not interchangable and your little nerd swarm won’t change that fact.
Generally, WASPs are found in the NorthEast... ;-)