Description and photo of hornets

When asked who the hornet is, they usually answer that it is huge wasp. The answer is both correct and no. In nature, there are 23 species of very large wasps, which are usually called hornets, although their correct name is “hornet wasps”. The international common name for wasps and hornets Vespa Linnaeus. Initially, ordinary wasps were combined with wasps in one genus, but from the 19th, insects were divided into hornet wasps Vespa and ordinary wasps Vespula ("small wasp"). The wasp family is quite numerous, it also includes the side, which is equal to the largest in the world giant asian hornet.

Habitat

Hornets are found in the Northern Hemisphere. The true homeland of all these species is Eurasia. Of all the varieties of hornets in North America, only one species has settled - European. But he was accidentally introduced by immigrants and did not advance further than the eastern part of the North American continent.

Interesting!

The same name in America is often called a large spotted wasp.

Since chines, wasp and hornets - these are representatives of the same detachment, people often confuse them with each other. It is unlikely that anyone will seriously study a brightly colored insect that has flown through the window. But in some areas, these stinging individuals are a protected species, so it’s useful to be able to distinguish a wasp or scoliosis from a hornet.

Comparative Characteristics of European Hornet and Wasp

Looking at the description and photo of a hornet, it is difficult to immediately understand how it differs from a wasp. Especially if there is nothing to compare. But if we consider a close-up photo of the hornet in comparison with the same photograph of a wasp, the differences become apparent, although the European hornet is very similar to paper wasp.

Common hornet - an insect of the smallest size of all representatives of this genus. The length of the body of the uterus of the European hornet is 2.5-3.5 cm. Working females and males are even smaller: 1.8-2.2 cm. That is, the size of the working individual is almost equal to the size of the wasp, but the trunk is much more powerful, and the abdomen sits on a completely short jumper, almost touching the chest.

The male differs from the female in the large number of segments on the antennae (13 instead of 12), the number of segments on the abdomen (7 instead of 6) and the absence of a sting. In a dead insect, all this can be counted and checked to make sure that it is not the uterus that was looking for a place for the nest.

The hornet's head is large, round, with a wide nape. In a wasp, the nape narrows when passing to the neck. The wings are small and calm along the body. The head and chest are brown (the wasp is black). The abdomen is brown below. From above on it yellow and black stripes alternate.

This species of hornet lives in families that can account for a significant number of working individuals. Insects are relatively peaceful, if you do not get closer than 0.5 m to the nest, they do not touch. Otherwise they attack together.

Interesting!

Contrary to myths, the hornet has only one sting. This is a modified ovipositor that serves to kill prey. Therefore, a reusable tool is smooth and does not get stuck in the skin.

Hornet bite This species is not very dangerous for humans: the bite site is very itchy and swells if combed. In this state, the tissues remain for a week. Then everything passes.The described scenario is true only for people who are not allergic to insect bites.

Feedback

Such people flew into our kitchen, but we thought it was a hefty wasp. The smell of jam flew. Nothing, folded newspapers and acted on them. If you slap harder.

Vladimir, Voronezh

On a note!

There is no kind of “Ural hornet”, but European is distributed throughout Eurasia, including the Southern Urals. The southern edge of the Ural ridge almost coincides with the Russian-Kazakh border, in this area there is a high probability of the appearance of another species - the eastern hornet. Therefore, with a high degree of probability, the local name hides the common (European) or eastern hornet.

But among the species of hornets in Russia, there is one truly dangerous for people and livestock. This is an Asian giant killer hornet.

Giant asian

It lives in warm regions, and a Russian tourist may encounter it when traveling to China, Vietnam, Taiwan or Japan. But as a result of global warming, this species reached the Russian Far East. This means that you can meet with him without leaving the country.

The size of the hornet reaches 5 cm with a wingspan of up to 7.5 cm. The insect has a very large head. In proportion to the body, it is much larger than that of other representatives of this genus. Coloring "done" strictly in black and yellow. The photo shows how the Asian hornet looks. He has a completely yellow head, black chest and striped abdomen. Yellow is very dark and is located on the border with orange.

Interesting!

In Japan Asian giant called the "bee sparrow." Due to the size of the insect, the poison of this huge wasp much more dangerous. Especially if several bites are applied at once. In Japan, 40 people a year die from the Sparrow.

With the Asian giant, ordinary and black hornets are adjacent. If the ordinary behaves “decently”, then black can do much harm.

Dybovsky hornet

The second name of this species is “black hornet”. The coloring resembles a strange bee with a black abdomen and red-brown head and chest. There are no yellow spots on the body. It is rare, as it leads a parasitic lifestyle. The female hornet of Dybovsky captures the nests of smaller relatives, forcing workers to take care of her offspring. This species does not need a "family" for reproduction, enough queens and males.

The bite is stronger than the European species, but weaker than the Asian one. The poison is intended only for the destruction of insects, so the consequences for humans on it can differ from the reaction to the bite of other species of wasps.

On a note!

Another black hornet wasp - a native of China, introduced to France. Vespa velutina is not dangerous for beekeeping and has a completely black color. She has yellow legs and two thin strips on her abdomen.

Eastern wasp

The more correct name is "Eastern hornet." This is the only large wasp insect that can survive in a very dry climate. The habitats are dry and hot. You can encounter it when traveling to Southern Europe, North Africa, the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, and the semi-dry subtropics of Asia (former Central Asian republics). In Russia it is found on the southern borders of the state.

• The view is not large. The maximum size of the uterus is 3 cm.
• The color is a bit similar to the European hornet, but the black color is “replaced” by red-brown. The upper third of the abdomen and the tip also have a reddish-brown color. Between them is a yellow stripe. Due to such a brown color, this species of large wasps has a third name: “red hornet”.

The species is very active and causes significant damage to beekeeping farms.

On a note!

The blue hornet does not exist in nature. So mistakenly called purple carpenter bumblebeeliving in the southern regions. The bumblebee is black in color, casting violet-blue in the sun.It is found in Russia in the Crimea and the Caucasus. The second popular name is the Crimean hornet.

Lifestyle

Almost all types of hornets are social insects. The family structure of wasps, bumblebees and hornets is the same: queen, working females, males. But hornets build nests not chewed pulp like do it waspswhile collecting building material from birches and rotten stumps. Because of the rotten wood, the material for building hornets looks brown rather than gray, like ordinary wasps.

The next life cycle of the hornets begins with the exit of the uterus from hibernation. She flies around the territory in search of a suitable place for nesting. Having found a suitable place, the hornet queen makes the first honeycombs and lays eggs in them. From her point of view, suitable places are:

• hollow trees;
• attics;
• tree branches in the tropics.

Sometimes the place where the hornets live is very unexpected for a person: a nest can be built in a crack under a concrete staircase or between window frames.

After the appearance of the first imagoes, she dumps all the work on improving the nest and feeding the larvae on working females, and she ceases to leave the house.

Depending on the degree of development, the types of food change, than the hornets eat. Adults prefer foods rich in easily digestible carbohydrates. They can often be found on fruit trees, where they gnaw holes in ripe fruit. Willingly fly to the smell of jam. When attacking a beehive, hornets destroy not only bees and their larvae, but also eat honey. A special "terrorism" in relation to honey bees is distinguished by Asian giants in Japan.

But these individuals at the same time bring harm and benefit. These large wasps catch various insects for a reason. Hornets larvae feed on protein mass, which is consumed in suspension. Adults to feed their offspring, crushed caught pests to a semi-liquid state. A lot of food is required, and working females hunt for days on end. In nature, hornets are needed to control the number of other insects, although giant wasps do not distinguish between a caterpillar of a turnip whitewash and the larva of a domestic honey bee. But the hornets themselves have almost no natural enemies, except for man.

On a note!

Only a golden bee-eater eats a hornet, it is a bee-eater.

In the warm season, the hornet family flourishes and grows in size. But the term, how many hornets live, directly depends on their life purpose:

• males until fertilization of the female;
• working females before the onset of cold weather;
• queens for over a year.

Honey hornets do not stockpile, like their younger sisters. This is due to the fact that hornets and wasps winter the same way: only fertilized queens “leave” for the winter.

On a note!

The successors of the clan: queens and male males appear in the family in late August - early September.

At the same time, fertilization of the young queens takes place. Since the uterus is already “charged”, hornets breed from the moment the queen emerged from hibernation and built the first cells of the honeycombs. The first laying of eggs means a new life cycle.

Also dangerous

There is another family of hornet-like insects, but belonging to another family of Hymenoptera. These are chines. In size, they are not inferior to hornets. The giant scolia, which lives in Europe and the southern regions of Russia right up to the Voronezh region, reaches a length of 5 cm with a wingspan of 10 cm.

Important!

Chocolates are harmless if not caught. Otherwise they can sting.

But these insects bring only benefit: adult insects pollinate plants, larvae - ectoparasites of garden pests. Food for them are the larvae of May beetles, weevils, rhinoceros beetles.

The color scheme of the giant scoli is similar to the color of the European hornet: black and yellow stripes on the abdomen and black and yellow head. But the location and width of the stripes are different.