Nature · Insects & other invertebrates

Hornet

Colonies annual, May–November · queens to about 35 mm

Vespa crabro — Vespidae; Europe's largest eusocial wasp

Europe's largest social wasp, and far less troublesome than its reputation: a hornet is chestnut-brown and yellow where a common wasp is black and yellow, and it is considerably less inclined to bother a picnic. Queens reach about 35 mm. It nests in hollow trees, roof spaces and bird boxes, hunts large insects to feed its grubs, and — unusually among wasps — will fly after dark and comes to lighted windows. It is the only true hornet resident in Britain; the yellow-legged Asian hornet is the invader people are asked to report.

How to spot them

▸Chestnut-brown and yellow, not black and yellow — the brown thorax and reddish head are the giveaway
▸Very large: a queen reaches about 35 mm, workers 18–25 mm
▸Deep, heavy buzz; will fly at night and is drawn to lighted windows
▸Nests in hollow trees, roof voids and bird boxes, building a papery nest from chewed wood
▸Not a hoverfly: two pairs of wings, a waisted body, long antennae and a functioning sting

How to know it

Europe's largest eusocial wasp, chestnut-brown and yellow rather than black and yellow, with a queen reaching about 35 mm

Hornet, Vespa crabro — the only true hornet resident in Britain.

Alone among British social wasps it regularly flies after dark and is drawn to lighted windows

Hornet — nocturnal foraging is a good identification clue.

Despite its size and reputation it is markedly less aggressive round food than the smaller black-and-yellow species

Hornet — the common wasp is the picnic nuisance, not this.

The invader being reported to beekeepers is smaller than it, dark-bodied with one broad orange band and unmistakable yellow leg-ends

Hornet contrasted with the yellow-legged Asian hornet, Vespa velutina.

Insects that merely mimic it have one pair of wings, short antennae and no sting, and hover motionless in mid-air

Hornet contrasted with hoverflies (Syrphidae), which are flies — Batesian mimics with no sting.

Its binomial pairs two Latin words that both simply mean a stinging social insect, vespa and crabro

Hornet — Vespa crabro; vespa is Latin for wasp, crabro for hornet.

Quick-fire facts

•Vespa crabro: vespa is Latin for wasp, crabro for hornet
•Europe's largest eusocial wasp; queens reach about 35 mm, workers 18–25 mm
•It builds a papery nest of chewed wood pulp in a cavity — a hollow tree, roof space, bird box or wall void
•Workers hunt large insects, including other wasps, and chop them up to feed the larvae; the adults themselves take sugars — sap, fruit and nectar
•Colonies are annual: only mated queens survive the winter, hibernating alone, and the workers and males die off in autumn
•Unlike a honey bee, a wasp or hornet does not lose its sting and can sting repeatedly
•The three-way confusion to remember: hornet (brown and yellow, very large, true hornet), common wasp (black and yellow, medium, true wasp) and hoverfly (a fly with one pair of wings, hovering, stingless)
•Vespa velutina, the yellow-legged Asian hornet, is smaller and much darker, with a broad orange band towards the rear of the abdomen and bright yellow leg-ends; it is an invasive non-native species that should be reported, and the British Beekeepers Association runs an annual awareness week and an incursion map
•Hornets are useful predators of garden pests and are protected from casual destruction in some European countries, though not specially protected in the UK

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Sources

British Beekeepers Association — Yellow-Legged Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina)
Natural History Museum — What do wasps do?