Asian giant hornet

Description

The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), including the color form referred to as the Japanese giant hornet, is the world's largest hornet. It is native to temperate and tropical East Asia, South Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia, and parts of the Russian Far East. It was also found in the Pacific Northwest of North America in late 2019 with a few more additional sightings in 2020, and nests found in 2021, prompting concern that it could become an invasive species. Asian giant hornets prefer to live in low mountains and forests, while almost completely avoiding plains and high-altitude climates. V. mandarinia creates nests by digging, co-opting pre-existing tunnels dug by rodents, or occupying spaces near rotted pine roots. It feeds primarily on larger insects, colonies of other eusocial insects, tree sap, and honey from honey bee colonies. The hornet has a body length of 45 mm (1+3⁄4 in), a wingspan around 75 mm (3 in), and a stinger 6 mm (1⁄4 in) long, which injects a large amount of potent venom. Although the scientific literature and official government sources continue to refer to this species by its established common name, the mainstream media have taken to using the nickname "murder hornet". The species has been around since the Miocene as indicated by fossils found in Shanwang formation. Regardless of sex, the hornet's head is a light shade of orange and its antennae are brown with a yellow-orange base. Its eyes and ocelli are dark brown to black. V. mandarinia is distinguished from other hornets by its pronounced clypeus and large genae. Its orange mandible contains a black tooth that it uses for digging. The thorax is dark brown, with two grey wings varying in span from 35 to 76 mm (1+3⁄8 to 3 in). Its fore legs are brighter than the mid and hind legs. The base of the fore legs is darker than the rest. The abdomen alternates between bands of dark brown or black, and a yellow-orange hue (consistent with its head color). The sixth segment is yellow. Its stinger is typically 6 mm (1⁄4 in) long and delivers a potent venom that in cases of multiple hornets stinging simultaneously can kill a human. The queens are considerably larger than workers. Queens can exceed 50 mm (2 in), while workers are between 35 and 40 mm (1+2⁄5 and 1+3⁄5 in). The reproductive anatomy is consistent between the two, but workers do not reproduce.