Where hornets hibernate and diet in winter. Hornet - the largest wasp in the world Hornet habitats

Technology
27.11.2019

Man is surrounded by a great variety of animals. Hornets are well known to us, but people do not like them. This insect causes fear, and sometimes panic and horror. It can attack a person and sting him painfully. Hornet venom can cause a severe allergic reaction, and multiple stings can be fatal. If anaphylactic shock occurs, immediate medical attention should be provided. At the same time, the hornet is useful. These individuals are excellent architects and builders! The whole question is what attitude we have towards them.

Hornets are social insects

People call them pirates. Other names - " winged corsairs"," flying tigers ". Here is what the biological classification of hornets looks like:

  • class of insects (Insecta);
  • order Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera);
  • family of folded paper wasps (Vespidae).

The world has twenty-three types of hornets and many of their subspecies. In some European countries, they are under state protection. So, for example, in Germany, a fine of 50 thousand euros is provided for the destruction of nests of such insects. The common hornet lives in numerous colonies or families, which include: female, males and working individuals. By the end of August - beginning of September, the number of the colony can reach 400-800 pieces.

There may be several females in a family, but there is only one hornet uterus. At the same time, to prevent mating and deposition of fertilized eggs by other females, the main queen emits a special smell (Pheromone), and the secondary ones lay unfertilized ones, from which only drones hatch. Hornets settle in earthen nests, choose a tree hollow for housing, places under round roofs, on fences. They make nests using saliva by chewing wood. The first spring generations consist of working hornets. Autumn - these are females and males. Only fertile individuals remain for the winter. They go into hibernation.

An ordinary hornet destroys prey with a blow of a sting. Another way is to tear the victim apart with their jaws. Predators eat various insects, including nocturnal ones. The hornet kills the caught bee immediately and sucks it out. The breast of the victim is carried to the nest for feeding its brood.

A large family of winged predators catches up to 500 or more grams of insects per day. In the garden and garden, hornets are very useful!

They feed on the juice of ripe fruits, trees and the nectar of readily available flowers.

Protein food is necessary for the uterus for exhausting work - the deposition of eggs. Hornets almost do not sleep, they only freeze for half a minute about 20-25 times a night and do not move.

Dimensions and description

The anterior half of the breast of the uterus is yellow. The head is the same color. The first two rings are dark brown with yellow stripes, the rest are yellow with brown spots. The hornet's uterus is 25 to 35 millimeters long. Males and workers are smaller in size.

The uterus and working individuals have a sting - this is a modified ovipositor. In the upper part of the head on the sides there are three simple large Oni of a reddish-orange color, and the cut resembles the letter C. The gnawing type mouth apparatus is equipped with very strong mandibles. The body is covered with hairs. For the development of the ovaries and the production of eggs, the hornet uterus needs food rich in proteins. For a successful hibernation in August - September, the uterus eats plentifully and accumulates the so-called fat body.

Life cycle and features of the existence of the hornet family

In the spring, at the end of May, the uterus wakes up after hibernation. She makes reconnaissance flights in search of a place to establish a nest. Having found a suitable one, he lays the first hexagonal combs and attaches the next ones to them. Soon, an egg will be laid in each cell, and after 8 days larvae will develop in them, and after 12-15 of them, as a result of metamorphosis, a hornet will appear.

Before the start of breeding, the hornet uterus determines and purposefully lays eggs from which drones or future queens hatch. This is controlled by the release of sperm.

By mid-June, workers will be building the nest, and the queen will only lay eggs.

From September juveniles appear. Since that time, the old hornet uterus has been neglected. Her ability to lay eggs is significantly weakened, and those that are produced are eaten by workers in a few minutes. So the queen leaves the hive and dies at the age of about one year.

Female workers feed passive females and males. Absorbing a large amount of proteins and carbohydrates, the young uterus stocks up with the necessary reserves for a long winter. Uneducated cocoons are eaten by workers and drones.

Mating takes place in autumn. The broodstock can be fertilized several times. Males die after two weeks. Fertilized queens look for a sheltered shelter for wintering. Diapause is coming.

In early November, the last of the working individuals die. There are no signs of life in the hive. Most of the young queens will not survive the winter.

Hornets - builders and architects

When a hornet nest is set up, insects use rotten wood. It must be chewed and mixed with saliva. Honeycombs are built from the resulting substance. The shell of the nest also consists of it. Glue is also saliva. The dried surface is analogous to corrugated paper. The color depends on the type of wood. The nest is not used for the second year. After winter, in spring, the uterus finds a convenient place for a new nest. She attaches a small leg to the ceiling. The first honeycombs are made on it. The expansion of the dwelling always occurs from top to bottom, the notch is in the lower part. A large hornet nest has 6 tiers. The largest ones reach a diameter of half a meter.

Alarms

Just like other insects, hornets are able to unite with a whole nest and sting the enemy for self-defense. It is very dangerous! When threatened, the hornet releases an alarm pheromone. This substance activates the brethren to attack. Do not kill the hornet next to the nest. Distress signals are able to raise the whole family to take revenge on the offender.

Various materials can serve as a trigger for an attack, according to chemical properties capable of coming into contact with the pheromone, including clothing, skin, food condiments.

wasps

In scientific Latin, a hornet is an insect designated as Vespa - "wasp". Vespula - denotes the usual genus of wasps (literally translated as "osishka"). In science there is a clear classification of this type of insect, but in real life there is confusion when distinguishing between large hornets and other representatives. Real wasps are smaller and have a bright yellow with black color, while the hornet is an insect of a darker color.

There are some called hornets. Spotted Dolichovespula Maculata occupies a special place among them. She lives in North America. In English, it is called Bald-faced hornet, like real hornets. It is black with ivory stripes. Most likely, wasps are called hornets because of their habit of creating above-ground nests. There is also the Australian hornet Abispa Ephippium, a species of solitary wasp.

Benefit or still harm?

In the literature about the forest, the hornet is often presented as a dirty trick that must be neutralized, as it gnaws at the thin bark of trees. Because of this, branches curled with rings are formed, which die off. This damage, compared to that caused by other wild animals, is very insignificant. It is good to have a nest of hornets in the garden or vegetable garden! Interesting fact: in one day a large family of predatory insects can destroy more than five hundred grams of harmful insects. They catch live prey and rarely take on carrion!

But these are the main natural enemies for ordinary worker bees. Voracious big hornet and his fellow giants swoop down on bee nests to feast on their honey and larvae. Among the known cases: thirty large hornets exterminated 3 thousand bees in an hour and a half. Hornets crush their prey with powerful jaws. Bees have also developed ways to protect themselves: carbon dioxide and heat. Getting into the "bee ball" with a high temperature, the hornets will kill the workers in ten minutes. In addition, the concentration of carbon dioxide sharply increases in the ball.

on the backyard?

Unlike other wasps, hornets are difficult to lure with honey baits or jams. Start fighting in early spring. At this time, the wasps are in initial stage building their nests. First of all, they inspect all buildings, especially those rarely visited.

Found nests are sprayed with strong insecticides, and then removed and burned. When they are big, it's difficult. Effective baits poisoned with pesticides are minced meat and fish, which hornets often use to feed larvae. They are placed in places inaccessible to pets. Various sweet traps are made for adult insects, especially with beer or fermented kvass.

Why and how dangerous the hornet is

For humans, the venom of most hornet species is less toxic than bee venom. After the injection, the sting remains in the wound. But this insect can sting several times in a row. The deadly properties of the poison are due to the content of high concentrations of mandorotoxin and toxic substances that cause the destruction of the tissues of the human body.

If the hornet has released a lot of poison, a serious inflammatory reaction will occur. Why is a hornet dangerous for a person? With high individual sensitivity, the consequences can be very severe. If there were a lot of injections, as happens with a disturbed hornet nest, a fatal outcome is possible. Japan has sad statistics: every year, having received a bite from a giant hornet, about forty people die. The venom of Asian individuals is highly toxic. European specimens are smaller and not as venomous. According to a special Schmidt bite pain scale, the pain from a hornet lesion is approximately comparable to that from a honey bee and is located at the middle level of the scale, as moderately severe.

As a rule, fears of a hornet are exaggerated: its bite is disproportionate to the size of the insect.

The industrious hornet is an insect that is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Creating a large family, hornets work day by day for the benefit of their colony.

Being next to a person, they are able not only to bite painfully, but also to benefit him. Therefore, it is important to know the habits of hornets and be able to negotiate with them.

Description and types

Appearance

The hornet (Vespa) is a stinging insect of the Hymenoptera order and the largest representative of the genus of social wasps. As an insect representing its family, the hornet has wasp waist, striped abdomen, thin transparent wings, large eyes and powerful jaws. However, the hornet has a number of features by which it can be easily distinguished from the well-known wasp. He is twice as large as his cousin.

The hornet has yellow, orange, brown and black colors, while the wasp has only yellow and black. The hornet is often called the largest wasp.

Varieties

The main places of distribution of the insect are the northern hemisphere of the planet up to the 63rd parallel. In total, 23 species of hornets are known. They have a lot in common: lifestyle, reproduction, nutritional preferences, but they differ in external signs and sizes. The most common ones are:

Hornets live in colonies in nests built in the form of several horizontal tiers of honeycombs. As a material for their dwelling, they use a cardboard-like mass, which they make themselves by chewing wood fibers and wetting it with saliva. The nest can contain up to 7 rows of combs, each of which contains about 550 cells.

Hornets arrange their nests in hollow trees, in old birdhouses, under the roofs of houses, in attics.

The inhabitants of the steppe regions settle in animal burrows or underground.

What does an insect eat

Hornets feed on nectar and plant foods containing a lot of sugar. Insect preferences include ripe fruits, berries, flower nectar, honey, and tree sap.

At the same time, hornets are predators. They hunt insects to feed their larvae. With the help of a sting and powerful jaws, the hornet easily copes with flies, horseflies, gadflies, wasps, and grasshoppers. He completely chews the victim and feeds it to the larvae.

Hornet breeding

The founder of each family of hornets is a fertile female (womb), who survived the winter in a secluded place. In the spring, with the onset of heat, the uterus wakes up, looks for a place for a nest, builds the first combs and grows the first larvae from the eggs laid in them.

In early July, the larvae turn into working hornets, which are immediately set to work. They get food for new larvae, feed the uterus and protect the home from enemies. The uterus is no longer working and is only engaged in laying eggs.

With well-coordinated work, the family quickly grows, new rows of combs are set up and the nest increases in size. Worker hornets are sterile females, but by autumn, young queens and males (drones) capable of breeding appear in the colony.

Fertilized young females hide in secluded places for the winter, in order to create in the spring new family, and the uterus and males that have fulfilled their function soon die. The head of the family, the uterus, lives for about a year, and all other members of the family - only a few months.

Benefit and harm

Hornets are useful in that they destroy insects, making it easier for gardeners to fight garden pests, but the benefits of hornets end when they settle in apiaries.

Hornets - a thunderstorm of bees

In autumn, honey bees become the main food of hornets - other insects are already dying at this time.

When raiding hives, one hornet is able to eat about 30 bees per day.

When uninvited guests appear, beekeepers try to get rid of them by all possible means.

Too close proximity to hornets can be dangerous for humans. An insect bite causes burning pain and can provoke severe allergic reactions.

The bite can be dangerous to humans

Effects

When attacking, the hornet can bite one or more times. A single bite is not as dangerous to a person as a multiple one. Getting a large amount of insect venom under the skin can cause serious trouble.

After a hornet attack, a person has organism intoxication, which leads to the following consequences:

  • dizziness, headache, signs of nausea and vomiting.
  • fever and chills, sweating.
  • shortness of breath, shortness of breath, in rare cases, convulsions.

Consequences can vary in severity. It depends on the type of hornet, on the human immune system, on his age and sensitivity to allergens. Children are the hardest to tolerate hornet venom. The most dangerous consequence of a hornet attack can be Quincke's edema and anaphylactic shock.

Help with a bite

There are several first aid rules for a hornet sting that will help minimize the consequences of an attack by the largest wasp. The sequence of actions is as follows:

  1. Inspect the bite site and remove the sting particles with tweezers, if any.
  2. Carefully squeeze out insect venom.
  3. Wash the wound with soap and then wipe it with a solution of alcohol or potassium permanganate.
  4. Apply cold.
  5. To accept antihistamine.

You can not visit a doctor if the hornet has bitten only once and there is no deterioration in the condition of the victim. However, you should see a doctor if the following symptoms are present:

  • severe pain and extensive swelling of the bite site;
  • weakness and severe manifestations of allergies;
  • attack by several hornets at the same time;
  • The victim is under 16 years of age.

How to avoid being bitten

The hornet attacks only when it feels a danger to itself or its nest. At the first threat, he releases a special substance - alarm pheromone, which serves as an attack signal for other individuals. Therefore, you should not kill the hornet near the nest. hornets, smelling danger, they can attack the offender of their relative with the whole family.

It is advisable to destroy hornet nests only in cases where they threaten the bees or their nests are located too close to housing. If the insects have built their home where they will not be disturbed, you can not be afraid of their attack. On the contrary, they will even become assistants in protecting the crop from others.

What smells do hornets dislike? How to get rid of them? A lot of hornets fly over the garden. I do not know what to do. There is only one advice on the Internet: destroy the nest. But my neighbors and I checked the sections left and right and back and forth for five or six sections. NO ONE HAS A NEST. It is impossible to do anything, they fly everywhere. And when my grandchildren come, I am very afraid that they will be bitten by hornets (last year they bit a teenager from my neighbors) and I do not let them into the yard. I myself have allergies and for me their bite is undesirable. I have already watered the paths with acetic acid, and hung rags soaked in kerosene, and treated the paths with clean ammonia - nothing helps. Does anyone know what smell hornets REALLY DO NOT LOVE? Help with advice. Thanks to all.

Maria, you are not alone, most people are afraid of stinging insects, but in reality everything is not so scary. Remember that the insect never attacks first, but stings only in case of danger to itself. Therefore, do not provoke it, and it will not aggressively defend itself. In nature, unfortunately, this is how it works: either you or you. So try to live in harmony with them. :)

Brr, it's scary how, I'm very afraid of wasps, hornets, bees. This year, the hornets decided to settle under our garage roof and bit my brother, of course he is to blame, but still I didn’t want such neighbors. Their father poisoned them with dichlorvos, we understand that this is completely inhumane, but what you can’t do in order to secure your home. After that, the hornets did not appear again and, I hope, will not appear.

Hornet (lat. Vespa) - an arthropod insect that belongs to the subclass winged insects, the infraclass new-winged insects, the superorder insects with complete transformation, the hymenoptera order, the stalked-bellied suborder, the wasp superfamily, the real wasp family, the vespin subfamily, the hornet genus.

The Latin designation of the genus in translation means "wasp".

Hornet - description, structure, characteristics. What does a hornet look like?

On average, insects measure from 1.8 to 3.5 cm, and the largest are the hornets of the Vespa mandarinia species - they reach 5.5 cm in length. Hornets differ from other representatives of the family of real wasps in a larger head and a fairly wide crown, the part of the head located behind the compound eyes. In addition to compound eyes, the insect has 3 simple eyes. Head color may be black, yellow, orange or reddish brown with yellow spots present. On the head are brown-black antennae, the number of segments of which differs in females and males. The mandibles (jaws) of the insect are black, brown or yellow-orange in color.

The hornet has a rounded abdomen, constricted by a slender waist in the articulation area with the chest. The color of many hornets resembles the color of an ordinary wasp, however, the alternation of black, yellow or reddish-orange stripes may not be so pronounced and clearly expressed. In other species, the abdomen is brown or black with one red or yellow stripe, and sometimes without them at all. For example, a variable hornet (lat. Vespa fumida) is completely brown-black in color with alternating lighter and darker tones. Also, the stripes on the abdomen of some varieties may have White color(as in species Vespa luctuosa). Hairs of various sizes grow on the body of the insect.

At the end of the abdomen of working females and the uterus is an ovipositor, which is a sting. In a calm state, it is imperceptible, as it is drawn into the abdomen of the insect. At the base of the sting is a steamy poisonous gland with a reservoir filled with poison.

The hornet's sting is straight and smooth, unlike a bee's, it does not have notches, so hornets, like other wasps, can sting repeatedly.

In total, the hornet has 3 pairs of black, brown or yellow legs, depending on the species. In the structure of the limbs, a coxa, a trochanter, a thigh, a lower leg with a spur at the end, and a paw stand out. The webbed wings of an insect are represented by two pairs: large anterior and small hind. The front wings are folded along the back at rest.

When flying, the leading edge of the small wings is attached with special hooks to the rear edge of the large wings: thus, both right wings and both left wings form a single flying surface.

Where do hornets live?

The largest part of the hornet's habitat is in the Northern Hemisphere. However, you can meet this insect not only there. Hornets live in North America, Europe and Russia (except the Far North), in Asia and in North Africa. Insects are found in the north and east of China, in Kazakhstan, Laos, Indochina, Taiwan and Cambodia, Nepal, India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Korea and the mountainous regions of Japan, Algeria, Egypt, Libya in Sudan and Somalia. Hornets live in Ukraine, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkey, Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Albania, Romania, Greece, Cyprus, Madagascar and Bulgaria and other countries.

Building rather large multi-tiered nests, resembling slightly corrugated, rough paper to the touch and texture, hornets attach them in hollows, in birdhouses abandoned by birds, in deadwood bushes, in the attics of residential buildings, under the roofs of sheds, in dry caves, on steep cliffs or just hang them on tree branches. The color of the nest can be beige, brown, yellowish-brown, with dark red, purple or brown marks and stripes (depending on the type of insect). In shape, the multi-tiered hornet nests resemble a pear, an oval, or a large ball. The size of the nest can reach about 70 cm in height and over 40 cm in width.

Often the nests of these insects are called paper nests, since the principle of their creation is similar to the production of paper. The material for construction is the fibers of rotten, soft wood or bark from young twigs, which the hornets carefully chew and stick together with their sticky saliva. Then the insects apply this mass to the nest in a thin layer. After drying, it hardens and turns into a loose likeness of paper. This material is very similar to rough wrapping paper on which you can even write with a pencil. The poor (from a human point of view) quality of this paper is explained by the fact that hornets, like wasps, use rotten wood and tree bark for construction.

Hornet nest inside. Larvae (with a yellow head) and pupae are visible in the combs. Photo by: Milan Korinek

Some varieties of hornets, such as the Dybowski hornet, do not build their own nests, preferring to settle in the nests of hornets of other species, killing the host queen, taking her place and laying her eggs, which are looked after by unsuspecting worker hornets. The hornet of Dybovsky is engaged in the construction of its own housing only in exceptional cases, when there is no suitable "apartment" nearby.

Some hornets, such as oriental (lat. Vespa Orientalis), basal (lat. Vespa basalis) and warlike (lat. Vespa bellicosa), build underground nests with numerous passages. They can be located underground, in abandoned rodent burrows or under tree roots and reach up to 20-30 cm in diameter. At the same time, the depth of the nest location can reach 56 meters (as, for example, in the eastern hornets).

What do hornets eat?

Nutrition for adult hornets is mainly plant foods, especially those that are rich in sugar. Very often, insects can be observed in orchards during active fruit ripening, sitting on soft, overripe fruits (, plums). Hornets gladly feed on sweet secretions and nectar, love to feast on honey, so they often attack apiaries, drink juice flowing from the wounds of trees (, ash trees, elms). In addition, hornets are excellent hunters: medium-sized crickets, and their larvae, and close relatives of hornets become their victims. For example, during life cycle tropical hornets can destroy more than 500 colonies of bees and wasps. By the way, the bicolor Vespa bicolor hornets that live on the island of Hainan sometimes mistake flowers for bees and attack them. And it's all about the unusual aroma, similar to the smell of a honey bee, which attracts predators.

The prey killed by powerful jaws and a sting is thoroughly moistened with saliva and chewed to a state of suspension, but it is not at all a source of nutrition for an adult hornet, but goes to feed voracious larvae during their growth. During the day, a large colony of hornets can feed up to 500 grams of insects to their larvae. Some hornets, such as the Dybovsky hornet, in addition to catching live prey, search for dead insects, and also collect human food waste, not disdaining meat and fish. All this is also fed to the larvae.

Hornet breeding

Hornets are social insects, so their way of life is subject to strict rules that reign in a swarm, which can sometimes number several hundred, and sometimes thousands of individuals. Each individual performs a specific function, due to which all the processes necessary for the normal functioning of insects are ideally supported in the family, and important information is exchanged. The division into "castes" (working female hornets, uterus and males) allows the hornets to properly organize reproduction, feeding, building nests, raising and rearing offspring, as well as protecting their colony.

With the advent of warm days (in countries with severe winters) or depending on the attachment of the species to the timing of reproduction (in warm countries), the hornet queen circles the territory in search of a place to create a nest in which a new hornet colony will live. Finding a suitable location, she begins building honeycomb cells. One egg is subsequently placed in each cell, from which, after 5-8 days, a tiny 1-2 mm larva will develop.

Eggs (small in central combs) and larvae. Photo credit: Tubiniit, CC BY-SA 4.0

After going through 5 stages in two weeks, the larva turns into a pupa, which after another 13-15 days becomes an adult, gnaws through the lid of the cell and comes out.

With the advent of the first adults (adults), the queen shifts to them the construction of new cells and care for the next offspring, practically stopping her flights from the nest. Working hornets are constantly on the move: they get food for the larvae, water, bring building materials. Hornets almost never sleep, working even at night. In autumn, the uterus produces eggs, from which females hatch, suitable for procreation. They mate with males, who die soon after. Also, in the middle or end of autumn, the old hornet uterus and unfertilized females die. Newly fertilized queens have the opportunity to overwinter in order to create a new nest the following season.

Hornet lifespan

The life expectancy of hornets mainly depends on habitat conditions, nutrition and their caste: working females usually live for about a month, males - a couple of weeks after mating with the queen, and queens can survive after a comfortable winter.

Types of hornets, photos and names

The genus of hornets includes the following species:

  • Vespa affinis- Small striped hornet,
  • Vespa analis,
  • Vespa basalis- Basal hornet,
  • Vespa bellicosa- War Hornet,
  • Vespa bicolor- Bicolor hornet,
  • Vespa binghami- Bingham Hornet
  • Vespa crabro- Common hornet (hornet wasp),
  • Vespa ducalis- Tropical (black-tailed) hornet,
  • Vespa dybowskii- Hornet Dybowski (black hornet),
  • Vespa fervida- ardent hornet,
  • Vespa fumida- Variable hornet,
  • Vespa luctuosa- lamentable hornet,
  • Vespa mandarinia– Asian giant hornet, a huge Asian hornet,
  • Vespa mocsaryana,
  • Vespa multimaculata- Multi-spotted hornet,
  • Vespa Orientalis- Oriental hornet (eastern wasp),
  • Vespa philippinensis- Philippine hornet,
  • Vespa Simillima- Yellow hornet,
  • Vespa soror- Black-tailed hornet,
  • Vespa tropica- Tropical hornet,
  • Vespa vivax.

Below is a description of several types of hornets.

  • Common hornet, or hornet wasp ( Vespa crabro)

A rather large representative of the genus: the hornet uterus reaches a length of 2.5-3.5 cm, males are 2.1-2.8 cm long, working individuals are from 1.8 to 2.4 cm. Males and females have some differences in structure. The antennae of males consist of 13 segments, and of females - of 12. The abdomen of males consists of 7 segments, while females have only 6. Both the uterus and worker hornets have a sting - a modified ovipositor, up to 3 mm long, used by insects for guard. Males are deprived of such weapons. The belly of the common hornet is colored with alternating stripes of orange-yellow and black, the chest is black. In females, the back of the head and cheeks are red, in males they are orange. The front part of the head of both is yellow. The legs of the insect are reddish-brown in color. The habitat of the common hornet includes the countries of Europe (with the exception of the northern and southern regions), Ukraine, southern Siberia, the eastern regions of China, Kazakhstan, North America (except for its western part), the European zone of Russia (with the exception of the northern regions).

  • Hornet deplorable ( Vespa luctuosa)

An insect species endemic to the Philippine Islands. The color of the hornet is brown or black, depending on the subspecies, there are white stripes on the wide abdomen. Clypeus of insects orange-yellow. The deplorable hornet produces a highly toxic poison, which makes its bite very dangerous for humans or animals.

  • oriental hornet, or eastern wasp ( Vespa Orientalis)

The uterus has a length of 2.5-3 cm, males reach 2.1-2.5 cm, working hornets grow up to 1.8-2.4 cm. The antennae of males consist of 13 segments, of females - of 12. -brown in color, on the abdomen there is a wide strip of yellow-whitish hue. Scientists have proven that the xanthopterin pigment contained in this strip allows insects to convert the absorbed sunlight into electricity. The eastern hornet tolerates dry and hot climates very well. Hornets of this species live in the countries of southern Europe (Italy, Malta, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Crete and Cyprus), in North Africa (in Somalia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya), as well as in Asia (in Turkey, Iran, Iraq , Pakistan, Oman, China, Nepal, Israel, Palestine, Syria, India, on the territory of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). This type of hornet is also found in Russia and Madagascar. It builds nests not only above the ground, but also underground, as well as in deadwood and under tree roots.

  • Tropical hornet ( Vespa tropica)

The species, which lives in South Asia, is distributed from Afghanistan to New Guinea. The size of queens reaches 4 cm, males and working individuals - 2.4-3 mm. The head and chest of the hornet can be black or reddish (depending on the subspecies), the second segment of the black abdomen has a yellow-orange stripe. Nests of these insects can be located both on tree branches and underground.

Lives in southern China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. It is also found in Europe, in particular in France, where it was introduced artificially. The body length of the uterus is about 3 cm, working individuals are about 2.4 cm in size, the body length of males is from 1.8 to 2 cm. The color depends on the subspecies, for example, the French variety of hornets Vespa velutina nigrithorax has a black color. The size of the nests of these insects reaches 60 cm.

  • Hornet Dybowski, or black hornet ( Vespa dybowskii)

  • Giant Asian Hornet ( Vespa mandarinia)

This is the largest hornet in the world. The length of some individuals of this species exceeds 5 cm, and the wingspan reaches 7.5 cm. The head of the insect is wide and orange. Abdomen brownish with yellow stripes. The species lives in the mountains of Sri Lanka, Korea, China, Nepal, Japan, India and Taiwan. In Russia, this hornet lives in the Primorsky Territory. The huge Asian hornet has a long sting, about 6 mm, and the bite is very painful and dangerous due to the content of a neurotoxic substance, mandorotoxin, in the poison.

  • Japanese hornet (V espa mandarinia japonica)

It is a subspecies of the giant Asian hornet, endemic to Japan, where it is called the "bee sparrow". Sometimes the insect is found on Sakhalin. This is a very large hornet, its body length often exceeds 4 cm, and its wingspan reaches 6 cm. The head of the Japanese hornet is large, yellow, with a pair of large eyes, to which three additional eyes are added. The belly is dark brown with yellow stripes. The sting of a hornet can be up to 6.2 mm long, the bite is painful and very dangerous due to the presence of nerve toxins in the hornet's venom. There is evidence that about 40 people die every year from the attack of the Japanese hornet in Japan.

Hornets belong to the category known to all wasps. Insects of this species live in colonies, and for the purpose of arranging nests they use paper obtained by chewing wood fibers.

insects have big sizes, live in the Japanese mountains and every year take the lives of a dozen people.

The body length is almost four meters, body weight reaches 200 mg. In most cases, females are several times larger than males.

Should I beware of a hornet bite and is the insect really dangerous? Let's talk about this further.

Characteristics of the hornet and habitat

This representative of wasps, there are at least twenty species. Compared to wasps, whose color includes a yellow-black tone, hornets are orange or black.

So, the Asian hornet is one of the largest representatives of this category of insects. He lives in China, Japan, in the Primorsky Territory of our country. It is this hornet, whose photo can be seen on the Internet, that is considered one of the most dangerous, since its poison is dangerous to human health and even life.

In nature, there are black hornets. Their females destroy the queen in order to take the main place in the colony.

Unlike female hornets, males do not have any sting, but it is quite difficult to visually consider its presence, so it is advisable to be extremely careful when meeting with a hornet.

Male hornets have antennae pointed at the tips, equipped with twelve segments. At the same time, in females, the antennae include eleven segments.

As for the similarities with wasps, the hornets have a similar body structure, that is, the belly is covered with stripes, a narrow waist, large eyes, and transparent wings.

What does a hornet that lives in Asia look like? Such insects are of enormous size and completely different from those known to us. You can meet hornets in Turkey, Europe, Sudan.

How hornets live

The main distinguishing feature of these insects is that they do not climb into jam or other sweet food. They live in packs of up to 200 individuals.

The creator of the hornet nest is a female who, having survived a severe frost, finds a cozy place in a hollow, rock, or in the attic.

With a loud buzz, hornets fly next to plants, gnaw on wood, bark.

From the natural massif (having processed it into special paper), the hornets equip their own nests, consisting of two or more tiers. Only one female lives in one nest, other residents are used as guards, servants, and cleaners.

The attacks of these insects on humans are a reliable fact. There are more such attacks in comparison with the attack of wasps or bees.

The composition of hornet venom includes histamine, which contributes to allergies in humans, for this reason, with high sensitivity to this ingredient, an unpredictable reaction is possible.

If one of the bitten people develops only swelling with a high temperature, then someone may experience anaphylactic shock, as well as death.

How to get rid of hornets?

If an insect has appeared in your home, then you do not need to try to kill it with a fly swatter. After all, an angry insect can respond with a bite. Cover it with a glass and let it out into the street.

But this option is suitable if an insect appeared in a single copy in your house. If a whole family of hornets has started up under the roof of the house, then cover the created nest with polyethylene, spraying dichlorvos inside the bag in advance, or draw water into a bucket, lowering the nest there.

There is another method for eliminating hornets. The atomizer is filled with gasoline, after which you need to spray the nest and set it on fire.

Food

Basically, the diet of these insects consists of foods with a lot of sugar, as well as fructose. In addition, hornets consume the sap of trees and some insects.

Having killed the prey with poison, having processed it with their jaws, these insects secrete a suspension with which they feed their larvae.

How do they reproduce and how long do they live?

The queen, hibernating in the cold, finds a suitable place for a nest in the spring and lays her eggs there. She then looks for food and looks after the future legacy.

The newly born members of the community take care of the future arrangement of the nest and the feeding of the queens, as well as the larvae. This type of scheme causes an incredibly rapid increase in the community.

After about thirty days, hornets appear from the larvae, while driving the queen out of the nest or eliminating it is not excluded, because she can no longer lay eggs.

As for the duration of the life cycle of hornets, it reaches only a couple of months. We're talking about worker insects.

But the uterus can live longer due to the ability to tolerate severe frosts well, thanks to hibernation.

Photo of hornets

Among flying insects, hornets stand out very strongly: it is very difficult not to notice them. However, in addition to their size and appearance, their features also lie in their lifestyle. What are hornets and are they dangerous to us?

Who are these hornets?

Hornets are flying insects of outstanding size, up to about 5.5 cm long, colored alternately with black and yellow or light orange stripes, while their eyes are orange-red. Fruiting insects have an ovipositor, while in workers it is turned into a stinger designed for protection.

It looks like a hornet in flight

Initially, wasps and hornets belonged to the same taxon, but then the wasps were separated into a separate genus. The main difference lies in the size and style of behavior. Hornets, firstly, are much larger than wasps and have a more rounded abdomen, and secondly, they are less aggressive and prefer not to attack, but to run away from danger. Hornet nests are similar to wasp nests both in their structure (it is almost identical) and in appearance, however, differ in color, as the hornets build their dwellings from several other materials.

You can see honeycombs in an unfinished hornet's nest

Hornets live mainly in the Northern Hemisphere - in Europe, Asia and North America, however, they avoid the extreme northern and southern regions, mainly preferring a temperate climate. They live in large families in large paper nests, numbering up to 10 tiers. Usually, hornet dwellings are located in secluded places: in hollows of trees, in abandoned houses, in attics, less often - in warmer regions - they are attached to tree branches. As building material for nests, hornets use birch branches and rotten wood of old stumps, therefore, unlike wasp, they are more brown-brown in color.

Here is a nest of hornets you can find in the attic or in the old bath

Hornets live no more than a year - the exception is females who fall into hibernation. In the spring, approximately in the middle of May, the queens wake up, find a suitable place for the future "home" and lay eggs, which turn into larvae after five days. Then the hornet's nest begins to build.

Hornet feeds larvae in a nest under construction

The larva develops within nine days, then pupates and in two weeks turns into an adult insect. As the number of hornets increases, the family grows and gradually splits into several smaller swarms that move away from the main one. Adult hornets feed exclusively on carbohydrate food: it can be sweet tree sap, aphid secretions, sugary juice of overripe and rotten fruits, as well as honey, for which they attack honeybee hives. Protein food is needed for feeding the larva, and for the sake of its prey, females kill other insects - grasshoppers, flies, wasps, bees, and even locusts.

Hornet nest inside: video

Hornets are different

Since these insects are very widespread on our planet, it is natural that there are several most commonly found varieties.

Common hornet, aka European

It lives in Europe, almost throughout North America, and in Asia - up to Western Siberia and eastern regions of China. The length of the queen reaches approximately 2.5–3.5 cm, the working insects are slightly smaller, but also differ in fair sizes. Previously, common hornets were very widespread, but people have been actively exterminating these insects for a long time, and in recent decades they have become much smaller. The struggle of people against European hornets has led to the fact that these insects have become an endangered species. Now in the countries of Western Europe this species is taken under protection, and a large fine is due for the destruction of their nests.

Hornet ordinary - the most familiar of all hornets

These insects prefer dry, hot climates. They can be found in countries Southern Europe and in Asia as far as India, China and Nepal. Adults do not grow longer than 3 cm. Their color differs from the colors of ordinary hornets, they are rather red-brown in color - both the body itself and the wings. One of the features of the eastern hornets is that they usually build their nests in the ground.

Oriental hornet is the only species that tolerates arid climate well

Chinese hornet

In some ways, the Chinese hornets are legendary - these representatives of the hornet genus are real giants! Their bodies can be longer than 5 cm, open wings - as much as 7.5 cm, and a sting - more than half a centimeter, moreover, the poison contained in it is highly toxic and can be fatal to humans. Their coloring is quite standard - yellow and black stripes. These insects live, in addition to China, and in the Primorsky Territory of Russia, as well as in India, Japan, Korea and Nepal.

Hornet Chinese - the largest species!

This subspecies of the Chinese hornet is found only on the islands of Japan and terrorizes both people and local honey bees. True, Japanese bees kill these hornets by surrounding him and generating heat with their movements, which causes the hornet to die from heat shock. With people, everything is more complicated: the venom of the Japanese bumblebee is just as toxic as the poison of its Chinese counterpart. Every year, at least 40 Japanese die from anaphylactic shock.

Japanese hornet - especially large, formidable and poisonous

The black hornet has a darker color

Once the hornets of this peculiar species were distributed only in China, but then they appeared in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, and even later they were brought to Europe through France. Their size is common for hornets - 2-3 cm, as well as yellow-black color. But there are also features of these insects. First, they build their nests on tall trees, right on the branches. Secondly, their swarms can be several thousand individuals. And thirdly, these hornets are obligate predators, and they constantly prey on other insects, including wild bees. However, oddly enough, they are not interested in honey bees.

Vespa velutina - predators among hornets

tropical hornets

These insects have standard sizes - 2.5–3 cm and the usual black and yellow color, but they have only one yellow stripe and is very wide. They are found in the tropical zone, namely, in various regions of South Asia. Tropical hornets build dwellings both on trees and underground, without having certain preferences in this regard.

The tropical hornet is found only in South Asia.

On average, these large insects only seem so evil: they bite people much less often than smaller wasps, because they are cowardly and non-aggressive. And yet, such incidents often occur. For example, when harvesting, a summer resident can take a fruit in his hand, where a hornet is hiding, feeding on sweet juice. Also, a person can disturb the hornet's nest: it can be inside a hollow on a felled trunk or in the attic of a house. Then the hornets feel the danger and will try to attack the offender. By itself, hornet venom for an adult, healthy person is not particularly dangerous, although the bite itself is quite painful.

A sting from a hornet can cause severe swelling.

The main danger is associated with a possible allergic reaction: a bitten person can get Quincke's edema and anaphylactic shock - and even die if timely medical care is not provided to him. In addition, a hornet can sting several times, because, unlike a bee, it does not leave a sting in the victim's skin. Children and animals may suffer more because of the lower body weight, which, accordingly, the poison will have a stronger effect than the mass of an adult. Chinese poison and Japanese hornet especially strong and more often than others leads to the death of the victim. If the hornet has bitten you, take an antihistamine (Cetrin, Suprastin, Tavegil, or something similar in composition), and if it still gets worse, be sure to consult a doctor. The animal should apply something cold to the bite site, and if necessary, take it to the veterinarian. Hornets are especially dangerous for honey bees, destroying them and ruining the hives, so be on the lookout if you are a beekeeper.

What can be done with hornets?

First of all, I would like to advise you simply not to touch the hornets and not to touch their nests. But if they set up their dwellings too close to yours or even inside it, then it makes sense to get rid of dangerous insects. First of all, you need to find the source of danger - that is, the nest itself. An active fight should begin with the onset of darkness, when the activity of the hornets will noticeably decrease. It is necessary to treat the nest with special insecticides in accordance with the instructions on the package. However, first do not forget to take care of your safety: put on clothing that will protect you from possible bites, preferably thick, possibly tarpaulin. It is especially important to protect your hands and face: thick rubber gloves and a hat with an anti-mosquito net will come in handy here. In addition, it would be advisable to wear a respirator so that the toxic substance does not enter your respiratory tract. If you are afraid not to cope with the hornets on your own or simply do not want to spend time on it, call a team of professionals - now many special companies are ready to save you both from dangerous insects and from the tedious fight against them for a fee.

In principle, the interests of humans and hornets overlap little, so we can peacefully coexist with these insects. But if they have entered the warpath with you or your bees, then you should take action and protect yourself, your pets and your home.