Among hornets, a special place is occupied by the world's largest representative of this genus - Vespa Mandarinia, or the Asian giant hornet, a photo of which can be seen this year. As the name suggests, it is very difficult not to notice it, since this insect with a brightly colored body measuring up to 5 cm and an even more impressive wingspan of up to 7 cm cannot fail to attract attention. Asian hornet extremely dangerous and poisonous. Being able to distinguish it from its more harmless relatives is especially important for those who like to travel to exotic countries of mysterious and unique Asia.

Interestingly, Vespa mandarin is one of the representatives of 23 species of hornets, which include common relatives living in Europe. The size of an insect is an anatomical adaptation to the climate in which it lives. Larger insects find it much easier to transport high temperature, because they have a large surface area for heat transfer to the environment.

Moreover, due to the size of this killer, he can easily count on many victims, including those of comparable size to himself. Otherwise, the insect is similar to its other relatives in appearance.

Appearance and structure of Vespa Mandarinia

In general, the appearance and body structure of the Asian giant murder hornet are very similar to characteristic features representatives of all 23 species of these insects. They resemble wasps in color, but differ from them in size and lifestyle.

You can distinguish the Asian hornet from all other insects by the following striking features:

1. Incredibly large size, reaching a ratio of body length and wingspan of 5x7 cm. An adult insect with outstretched wings almost completely covers a woman’s palm and at first glance seems like a plastic toy.
2. The abdomen (back part of the body), painted in alternating black and yellow stripes, appears black from a distance because the dark stripes are wider than the light ones.
3. The chest (middle part of the body) is very dark, with a characteristic black pattern.
4. The head (front part of the body) is most often a rich yellow or orange color, which allows you to notice the insect from afar.
5. The paired lateral eyes are very large, deep dark in color, almost black.

In addition to the large lateral eyes, in the center of the front part of the hornet’s head there are three additional ones, thanks to which the insect distinguishes the degree of illumination and is perfectly oriented in space. The Asian hornet sees well even in the dark.

The appearance of the giant insect is very remarkable; the hornet is difficult to confuse with other species or not to notice. But, given the high speed that it can develop when flying, bright identifying signs are not always enough to avoid an unpleasant meeting with the killer, as this eastern giant is also called.

Varieties of the Asian giant hornet

The terrifying appearance and impressive size are just an adaptive mechanism to the conditions external environment and eating behavior. In the process of evolutionary development, representatives of this species further adapted to natural conditions, which led to the emergence of several subspecies of Vespa Mandarinia.

Most known endemic is a Japanese huge hornet. This unique insect can only be found on the Japanese islands and nowhere else in the world. The hornet is slightly more modest in size than the ordinary Asian one giant representative of this type. It also differs from its fellows in color - its abdomen has orange rather than yellow stripes.

Some subspecies of giant hornets are distinguished not by striped, but by marbled coloration of the abdomen. Absolutely all representatives of Vespa Mandarinia are poisonous and dangerous to humans, which travelers to Asian countries should take into account.

Habitats of the giant hornet

Representatives of Vespa Mandarinia are not found in Europe. Their natural habitat is Asian countries:

• Japan.
• Korea.
• China.
• India.
• Thailand.

There they feel very comfortable in the hot and humid environment of the tropics and subtropics. It is curious that in Russian Federation this insect is found in the Primorsky Territory, where the conditions of the monsoon Far Eastern climate are also suitable for comfortable living and reproduction.

Life cycle of the Asian giant hornet

Like other representatives of this group of insects, Vespa Mandarinia live in large colonies in nests. The female begins to arrange the “house”. At the beginning of spring, she builds a modest-sized nest, which will subsequently increase many times in volume and area. At this stage, the female’s task is to lay the foundation of a future colony by laying several larvae. The future queen feeds and protects her firstborns on her own.

After about a month, the first hornets appear and are ready to take care of the next generations of larvae, completing the nest, protecting it and developing the colony.

The queen (queen) remains in the nest forever and spends her entire life laying larvae. All other worries are taken over by the hornets that appear in the nest, which leave it for hunting and other needs.

The colony is growing rapidly. If about a month passes from the first clutch to the appearance of the hornets, then in the next 4-6 weeks the number of insects in the colony can increase to several thousand.

Throughout the entire existence of the colony, all insects, except the queen, have three main concerns: obtaining food for themselves and the voracious larvae, completing the hive to the required size, taking into account the constant replenishment of the family, and protecting the “house” from ruin.

By the first frost, the colony completely dies out. At the end of August - beginning of September, males fertilize females, but the latter no longer lay larvae. First, the number of the colony stops growing, and then begins to decline rapidly. All males gradually die out, and fertilized females find for themselves safe place wintering. The family never returns to the old nest. In the spring, after waking up, each female will begin to create her own colony in a new place suitable for this purpose.

What does a giant hornet's nest look like?

The Asian murder hornet's nest is made of a paper-like material. Insects chew tree bark, soaking it special secret saliva. They build their “house” from the resulting sticky mass. After drying, the building material acquires the right type and a texture reminiscent of gray kraft paper.

What does the murder hornet eat?

The larvae of this insect are voracious insect predators. In order to feed them, adults constantly hunt. Hornets prepare a protein pulp from killed insects, which they feed to the larvae.

Adults are also predators, the basis of their diet being any other insects. But they are not averse to eating sweet fruits and berries, and they happily eat fish washed up on the shore. Hornets do not use their poison when hunting; their powerful jaws are enough for them. In search of prey, a group of hornets may raid a beehive or apiary. This is a real disaster for bees because one killer can kill up to 300 bees in a short period of time.

Is there any benefit from Vespa Mandarinia?

In their natural environment, predatory hornets are a natural regulator of the number of other insects. Thanks to this, the ecological balance is maintained. By eating small insects, giant hornets free the forest from pests, which, if uncontrolled, can destroy even large green areas.

The damage caused by giant hornets

The main harm caused by a colony of giant hornets is the destruction of apiaries and the killing of bees. This is true disaster for Asian beekeepers. Therefore, an irreconcilable struggle is being waged against dangerous insects in places and habitats found close to agricultural land and human habitation. You always need to be careful, because an encounter with a giant hornet can result in an insect attack for a person, the bite of which can sometimes be fatal.

What does a giant hornet's sting look like?

IN calm state the insect does not show its sting, and you can see it deadly weapon it is forbidden. It is located inside the back part of the body - the striped abdomen.

An insect can attack only in one case - defending a nest or own life. Hornets do not use their stings for hunting. Unlike bee, it is smooth, so after contact with the skin, it does not remain in the tissues of the victim. The sting of the Asian hornet reaches 5 mm in length. Each individual can strike several times until the toxin runs out.

Why is a murder hornet sting dangerous?

The venom of the Asian giant hornet, a photo of which can be seen in this article, is one of the most toxic substances to humans. That is why the insect received a terrifying nickname - the murder hornet. Every year, in the countries where they live, their victims who do not survive their bites number several dozen.

If a person is absolutely healthy and has no problems with the cardiovascular, respiratory or central nervous systems, he will not die after a single hornet bite. The bite site quickly swells and becomes very painful. But, since there is no poisonous sting left in it, getting rid of unpleasant consequences is quite possible.

How is the Asian giant hornet dangerous for humans? By piercing the skin of the victim with its sting, the hornet injects only a small volume of poison (about 2 mg), which increases the chances of a successful outcome for the bitten person. However, since the hornet can sting multiple times, the situation becomes more severe with each subsequent sting.

The venom of this insect belongs to the group of neurotoxins that negatively affect the activity of the central nervous system. nervous system human, depresses breathing and cardiac activity. In addition, the poison contains substances that can cause dangerous tissue damage, including necrosis.

For people prone to allergic attacks, with chronic diseases, as well as for children, even a single bite from such an insect can be deadly.

Help for an Asian Killer Bite

The human body’s reaction to the venom of the Asian hornet, a photo and description of which is in this article, can be very different, depending on age, health status, and the number of bites. Therefore, if you are bitten by an insect, you must not waste time and immediately consult a doctor.

Almost always, severe swelling occurs at the site of the bite, so the doctor usually prescribes antihistamines. Depending on the severity of intoxication and the symptoms that appear, adequate therapy is prescribed using medicines, neutralizing the toxin and eliminating the consequences of its action.

In most cases, hospitalization and round-the-clock medical monitoring of the victim’s condition are required.

How to Avoid a Giant Hornet Sting

Since insects do not attack in a calm state, it is easy to avoid a bite:

• do not touch or destroy the hornets' nest;
• when meeting an insect, do not wave your arms or objects, so as not to provoke it to attack;
• do not eat sweet, juicy foods (for example, fruits) and meat near the colony, so as not to attract insects by smell.

These simple measures are enough to reduce the risk of encountering a murder hornet to a minimum.

Interesting facts about the giant insect

The body weight of the Asian huge hornet can reach 200 grams, and when flying from afar it is often mistaken for a small bird. Therefore, the local population often calls the insect “sparrow bee.”

A colony of giant hornets is a society with a complex social organization, resembling an anthill. Each adult has its own function and working “profession”. In addition to hunters and soldiers, Asian hornets, photos of which are in this article, have nannies, doctors and even room cleaners.

Only females have a sting. But since outwardly they can hardly be distinguished from relatively harmless males, one should be wary of all representatives of this species of insects dangerous to humans.

Note that for nature, these hornets are natural orderlies. They kill a large number of pests of both forests and agriculture. Therefore, insects are useful and need protection.

One of the most unpleasant moments that accompany traveling to exotic countries is the prospect of meeting poisonous representatives of the local insect world. One of these creatures is the world's largest hornet with beautiful name Vespa Mandarinia, native to Asia. What this huge relative of the wasps and bumblebees we are used to is and what the threat of its bite is is the topic of our review.

What does the largest hornet look like?

Those who have ever seen a common European hornet ( Latin name- Vespa Crabro), can easily imagine Vespa Mandarinia, mentally enlarging the familiar insect by about two times. Otherwise, representatives of these two species look approximately the same, although there are still some minor differences between them.

Did you know? The smallest insect on the planet has a body length of 139 microns, and the largest-grows up to 60 cm or more. The name of the first is Dicopomorpha echmepterygis, the second is Phasmatodea.

For clarity features the Chinese giant and its European relative are given in table form:

class="table-bordered">

To give a more visual idea of ​​the true size of the Asian hornet, it is enough to say that the length of its body from the top of its head to the tip of its sting is approximately equal to the length of the little finger of an adult man, and its wingspan is only slightly less than the width of a human palm.

Insect life cycle

It should be noted that gigantic size, distinguishing Vespa Mandarinia from more than two dozen of its closest relatives from the genus Vespa, are a striking example of evolutionary struggle and the ability of species to adapt to unfavorable conditions environment.

In addition, in the rich diversity of the animal world, which is typical for tropical countries, large and poisonous insects have a much better chance of finding food for themselves and not becoming victims themselves. natural enemies than their smaller and more harmless fellow tribesmen.

Otherwise, the life cycle of these giants is practically no different from that which is characteristic of other species of hornets. Insects live in nests that they build directly on the ground. The material for making the nest is thin and soft (young or, on the contrary, rotten) tree bark, which the female first grinds with her powerful jaws and then glues with viscous saliva. In appearance, such a structure is very reminiscent of paper.

Important! For all inhabitants of areas with hot climates, the possibility of survival directly depends on heat transfer. One method of increasing this indicator is a larger body area, which provides better cooling.

With the retreat of cold weather, even before starting to build a nest, the queen lays several eggs at the place chosen for the future home and then begins to build a honeycomb house over them. In the first days after laying, the queen takes care of all the nutritional needs of the future offspring on her own. After about a week, a larva emerges from the egg, transforming over the course of another two weeks, first into a pupa, and then into a young hornet.

Further functions of the offspring in the nest are distributed as follows:

Where does it live?

As the name suggests, the habitat of the giant hornet is Asia, more precisely the eastern, and also partly its southern and northern parts.

The list of states whose territory Vespa Mandarinia has chosen for itself includes:

• Japan;
• People's Republic of China;
• Taiwan;
• India;
• Sri Lanka;
• Nepal;
• North Korea;
• South Korea;
• Thailand;
• Russian Federation (Jewish Autonomous Region, Primorsky and partly Khabarovsk Territory).

Did you know? Due to its enormous size, the Chinese called the Asian hornet “tiger bee”, and the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun called it “sparrow bee”.

Good ability to adapt to changing conditions allows Asian hornets to explore different areas of geospace, and yet their favorite habitat is sparse forests, well-lit groves and other areas protected by high vegetation. These insects almost never choose steppes, deserts and highlands to build nests.

What does it eat?

The Asian hornet is practically omnivorous. Its most common food is insects (including smaller hornets), but this giant can just as readily eat fruits, berries, flower nectar, and even meat or fish. Plant food is suitable only for adult hornets, while larvae need products of animal origin.

The hornet extracts food using primarily its powerful jaws; the sting is a tool for protection, not for hunting. Using its jaws, the Asian giant captures prey, kills and then butchers it.

Methods for destroying nests

The greatest harm that Vespa Mandarinia brings to humans lies not in its toxic poison, but in invasions of apiaries. The agriculture of Japan, India and Thailand suffers especially badly from the invasion of killer insects.

Did you know? A dozen Asian hornets can destroy up to 10,000 honey bees in a season.

Consequently, having discovered an Asian hornet nest, people usually try to get rid of such a neighborhood. The problem, however, is that mechanical destruction of the home of a poisonous insect is a dangerous task and, in practice, almost impossible. Hornets are capable of desperately defending themselves and, when faced with the threat of losing their home, unite their forces, regardless of possible losses (protection of the family, by the way, is the most common cause of death for a hornet).

People use special methods to destroy nests of dangerous insects.

For example, for this purpose you can:

1. Set fire to the paper house, after pouring flammable liquid over it.
2. Fill the nest with boiling water, but you will need a lot of water, at least 20 liters.
3. Drown the house in water (this method is used if the nest is attached to a horizontal surface from below, and there is no need to remove it, but you can simply dip it in a bucket of water and support the structure with any support).
4. Wrap the structure with a large plastic bag, generously spray a potent insecticide inside and immediately tie the edges of the bag tightly so that the poison does not erode.

Important! All work to destroy a hornet nest must be carried out in dark time days when insect activity is minimal. However, you should know that even at night the hornets do not sleep, but continue to work, only periodically, for about 30 seconds, freezing in immobility.

Before undertaking hazardous work, precautions must be taken personal protection: wear glasses, a mask, gloves, or even better - a special suit for beekeeping.

The danger of the giant hornet

The Asian hornet is dangerous not only for bees. Their venom is very toxic, and, given the impressive size of both the individual itself and its sting, in the event of an attack, a larger proportion of the toxic substance is released, compared to other hornets.

The hornet's venom contains several toxins, the most dangerous of which is mandorotoxin, a substance that has a pronounced nerve-paralytic effect. Other toxic components have a destructive effect on tissue internal organs which is accompanied by severe pain. Since hornet venom is similar in its characteristics to bee and aspen venom and is also capable of causing a specific “cumulative” reaction (each subsequent sting is more severe than the previous one), first of all, an attack by an Asian hornet is dangerous for those who already have a history of allergies to bee stings and os.

Another trouble is that at least 5% of the Vespa Mandarinia venom is a special substance - acetylcholine, specially designed so that in times of danger the individual can call for help from its fellow tribesmen. Accordingly, having been stung by a giant hornet (like a wasp, it can use its sting many times), its victim runs the risk of ending up in a circle of angry insects within a few minutes.

Did you know? Scientists have found that it is with the help of odors, or rather the pheromones present in them, that communication occurs between members of the family of insects of the genus Vespa. By sending certain aromatic signals, the queen can give her fellow tribesmen various commands - to work, hunt, attack and defend.

However, it should be noted that the Asian hornet, like its other brothers, is not at all aggressive and never attacks without reason. But if you disturb an insect’s nest or accidentally crush it on your body, a lightning-fast reaction cannot be avoided. Moreover, male hornets do not have a stinger - attacks should only be feared from the queen or a working female.

Bite symptoms

First of all, the bite of an Asian hornet is very painful. According to one of the victims, the sensation is reminiscent of being pricked by a hot nail if you step on it with all your weight. The pain does not go away for a long time and is pulsating in nature.

External signs bites are:

• redness of the skin in the affected area;
• rapid spread of inflammation to a wider area of ​​skin;
• the appearance of swelling;
• thickening of the tissue around the bite site;
• swollen lymph nodes;
• hyperthermia, fever.

As the toxin enters the bloodstream, a person may feel:

• shortness of breath, difficulty breathing;
• dizziness, up to loss of consciousness;
• headache;
• nausea, sometimes ending in vomiting;
• rapid heartbeat (tachycardia).

Important! If you have an allergy or multiple bites, the Vespa Mandarinia venom can cause anaphylactic shock and be fatal to humans. So, according to statistics in Japan, up to four dozen people die every year from the bite of these insects.

What to do if you are bitten?

They are similar to those that a wasp victim needs to take, with the only difference being that you need to act even faster.

List of urgent actions:

The Asian hornet is an insect whose bite is fraught with serious consequences, including death, but such cases are still rare. Moreover, if the usual precautions are taken, the likelihood of becoming a victim of Vespa Mandarinia is not that great, since by attacking, the insect is really just protecting itself from danger, real or imaginary.

There is no doubt that everyone, or almost everyone, seeing for the first time such a monster in the world of wasps as a hornet, felt fear and respect for this insect, impressive in all respects. Indeed, these large wasps can force even the king of all life on Earth - man - to reckon with themselves.

But is a disturbed hornet really dangerous, what is its maximum size, what types of hornets exist, how a hornet’s nest is constructed, how this giant wasp differs from ordinary wasps, what a bee can do against this predator, and much more we can learn in this review.

Features of the genus

So who are the hornets? The genus Hornets belongs to the family of true wasps. That is why representatives of this genus fit well into the external framework inherent in ordinary wasps. At the same time, there are some differences that will not allow these, albeit close, but still different taxonomic groups of Hymenoptera insects, to be confused.

Stinging insects.

What does a hornet look like next to a wasp? Large hornets differ from other wasps primarily in their large size. The dimensions of an insect such as a hornet range from 1.8 to 5.5 cm in length, depending on the species. Also, the wingspan of these largest wasps in the world can reach 8 cm. And this large wasp, in addition to its serious dimensions, has very powerful and impressive jaws, which also differs from most other wasps.

Among the differences between representatives of the hornet genus and other wasps, some differences in color should also be mentioned. The hornet insect has the same striped abdomen as most wasps. Moreover, if the color of the wasp is dominated by only two colors, namely black and yellow, then the color of the hornet is somewhat darker, and orange and brown shades have found their place in the color palette.

Well, we cannot ignore that unpleasant part of the story about this huge wasp, which concerns the main weapon of these stinging hymenoptera. It’s no secret that wasps tend to use their sting for its intended purpose in case of danger.

Although, it must be said that the wasp’s sting performs not only the function of an injection needle for treating a presumptuous enemy with a portion of poison. It is also a reduced insect ovipositor.

The sting of this insect has longer length than a common wasp, and delivers a greater dose of venom than a bee, bumblebee or most wasps, making this miniature "tiger" a formidable opponent for any living creature that provokes its wrath.

Therefore, such cinematic epithets as “murder hornets” are often and, it must be said, not unreasonably used in relation to these not very cocky, but certainly capable of standing up for themselves insects.

Habitat

These insects are very widespread throughout the world, if we talk about middle and temperate latitudes. The common hornet is found everywhere in the central and southern regions Europe, including CIS countries such as Ukraine, Russia, Belarus. There are also plenty of them in Asia and North Africa.

Lifestyle

Like almost all Hymenoptera, hornets are collective insects. They live in large colonies in self-built cellular structures. Just like wasps and bees, only in smaller numbers. The hornets' nest is also larger in size than the wasps' nest.

Typically, these large wasps prefer to use hollow trees, attics of houses, occupied beehives, as well as animal holes and caves as shelters for their homes.

These wasps build their homes in several tiers, horizontally. The material for construction is chewed pieces of wood bark, most often birch, moistened with saliva. Therefore, such papyrus material is not white, but rather a brownish tint, while to the touch it resembles thin paper, something like paper foil, so to speak.

In created nests, hornets maintain a strict hierarchical system of relationships. At the head of the colony is the queen, which produces hundreds of eggs. She is protected by the rest of the family. All actions of its members are aimed at preserving the queen, and therefore the colony itself.

Each insect is like a cog in the system. Workers spend all their active time searching for food for the queen and the younger generation in the form of larvae. Among them there are also “cleaners” who perform the functions of “nannies” for the larvae and also clean the nest.

In fact, during the day, only the female, larvae and a number of workers and “nurses” are in the nest to maintain the colony’s defenses. The rest of the family visits the nest only at night to sleep. The hornets' nest is somewhat reminiscent of a feudal castle, with a queen, soldiers, artisans and servants. Just a little simplified.

Reproduction

The founder of the colony is the most fertile female, which managed to survive the winter and give birth to the first offspring. In the spring, she herself lays the foundation of the future colony, building the first honeycombs for the future generation, and she herself feeds the larvae that emerge from the eggs.

The hornet larva looks like most other insect larvae. It has a white, slightly grayish color, a dark head, and the same dark longitudinal stripe, as well as a segmented body.

By mid-summer, the first larvae develop into adults, after which they take on all responsibilities for protecting and providing for the queen and nest. The uterus no longer works and is exclusively engaged in reproduction.

The colony grows quickly, and by autumn there are already representatives of all “classes” in it, including the “drones” that fertilize the queen. Closer to the cold weather, fertilized females look for shelter for the winter, so that next season they can give birth to a new generation and become queens in their own families. The remaining members of the colony die even before the cold weather, since they live no more than a few months. The uterus can live for a year.

What types exist

Now let's talk about what types of hornets exist, and what are the characteristics of each of them.

Overall, there are more than 20 representatives of this genus of Hymenoptera. But we will consider only the most common of them.

So, let's highlight the following types of hornets:

1. Common or European hornet.
   The common hornet (Vespa crabro) is the most common species, living in the central and southern parts of Europe, Russia, Ukraine, as well as China, Mongolia, South Korea, Japan and the USA.
   We can say that this is the same yellow hornet that a resident of the countries may encounter former USSR. Has all the classics for its taxon external characteristics. The length usually ranges from 2 to 3.5 cm. The head and chest are brown, the abdomen is yellow with black transverse stripes.
   Large mandibles and large eyes, as well as sexual dimorphism in favor of females, indicate that this wasp belongs to the genus of hornets.
2. Eastern Hornet.
   The most pretentious representative of its kind in appearance. It has a color that distinguishes it from other species with one wide transverse yellow stripe on the abdomen. The body and wings themselves are bright purple. Dimensions range from 2.5-3 cm. This is the most heat-resistant representative of the genus, capable of living in steppes and deserts. The homeland of this one beautiful view- North Africa, o. Madagascar, as well as hot regions of Asia and Europe.
3. Dybovsky's Hornet.
   It has a second name - Black Hornet. Interesting in appearance, having an almost solid black body color and brownish wings. Only on the abdomen can you see several thin dark orange stripes. Very rare view, found exclusively in regions of Asia, including countries such as Thailand, India, Japan, China and Korea, and the Russian Transbaikalia. The body length does not exceed 3.5 cm, like most other varieties.
4. Asian giant hornet.
   He is also the hornet Vespa mandarinia. This is not only the largest hornet in the world, but also largest representative families of wasps in general. The huge Asian hornet can reach a length of 5.5 cm. Its wingspan can cover a human palm and is 8 cm.
   This is indeed a very large wasp, resembling a small bird in flight, which gave it the local name among the Japanese “sparrow bee”.
   Such a huge hornet poses a high threat to humans and domestic animals, since the danger of these insects is directly proportional to their size.

And these are not all types of hornets, there is also a PhilippineVespa luctuosa, tropical Vespa tropica, Asian Vespa velutina, and many other interesting varieties.

Hornets and bees

Hornets are omnivorous in nature. They feed mostly on the sweet pulp of various fruits, but they are also predators. These giant wasps feed their larvae with caught and killed insects, while the adults themselves are not averse to snacking on a caught beetle or bee.

To a greater extent, these are very useful creatures for humans. A colony of these striped hunters that settles next to a gardener’s home can protect the crop from most harmful insects. Hornets are at the top of the invertebrate food chain and can bring half a kilogram of live food per day to feed themselves and their larvae.

Uneven fight.

But in an apiary environment, the benefit of these predators ends. Hornets are a real beekeeper's scourge. The bee and the hornet are the prey and the hunter. Hornets and bees are long-standing and primordial enemies, because one of the main hunting objects for this giant wasp is the honey worker. Fed on killed bees (and wasps as well), their larvae receive everything they need. nutrients they need for development.

Bees are practically defenseless against hornets. If a scout wasp notices the presence of a bee hive on the territory, without protective measures on the part of the beekeeper, the hive is doomed. Even one huge hornet can destroy dozens of bees, crushing them with its jaws and using a deadly sting.

The main goal of a hornet invasion of a hive is not the bees themselves, but the honey. The sweet substance is a real wealth for wasps; it can feed the entire colony in abundance.

Bees only have one effective method deal with one hornet. By attacking a wasp in a swarm and enclosing it in a continuous living vibrating “cocoon,” the bees can kill the enemy by creating overheating conditions for him inside this trap, created from the bees themselves, constantly moving around the wasp.

Relationship with a person

Of course, the hornet belongs to dangerous insects posing a threat to human life and health. A bee sting and a wasp sting are different in nature. They have different chemical composition and are treated differently.

The bite of such a large wasp as a hornet can pose a serious threat to humans. The fact is that the larger the wasp, the greater the amount of poison it can inject into the sting site at a time. Moreover, wasps do not tend to lose their sting in the wound, as happens in bees.

They can inflict several painful injections, and even in someone who does not have elevated allergic reaction human, may arise serious problems with well-being and health after several bites of an insect of this size.

This is especially true for a species such as the Asian giant hornet, which is considered by entomologists to be one of the most dangerous arthropods on the planet.

Such a huge insect can inject enough venom to cause anaphylactic shock. And here you will have to call an ambulance.

We must remember that the importance of these stingers for gardening is very great. Whenever possible, people destroy colonies of these dangerous creatures sleeping in winter and poison them in the yard, but this is an extreme necessary measure. You just need to follow the rules of coexistence, because these large wasps themselves avoid contact with humans.

You should not touch a hornet's nest under any circumstances, even if you find it in your attic at home. It’s better to call specialists who will do everything right. If a large wasp is circling near you, do not wave your arms or make sudden movements, this will only anger the insect and cause aggression.

Conclusion

Now we know what the largest wasp in the world is, we understand the varieties of these striped creatures, and we also know how dangerous an irritated hornet can be.

The Asian giant hornet is the largest representative among its fellows. The insect is difficult to miss due to its bright color and significant wingspan. The official name is vespa mandarinia. The pest is not found in Europe. The territory where it lives is limited to Asia: Far East, Japan, China, Korea, as well as India, etc.

Vespa mandarinia represents 1 of 23 species of insects in the hornet genus. These are predators that are capable of causing significant harm to humans, however, their task is different. Hornets prey on some small insects, which on the one hand is good, since most often these are pests that destroy useful crops.

On the other hand, vespa mandarinia kills bees, which is detrimental to beekeeping. Thanks to its large size, it is able to hunt effectively, and in addition, the structure of the insect’s body is determined by the need for increased endurance in areas with a hot climate.

How to distinguish the Asian hornet from other species?

The pest is several times longer than a regular wasp. Thus, the body size of a giant insect reaches 5 cm. The wingspan is also significant - up to 7.5 cm. In some ways, the large Asian hornet resembles a wasp. However, there is more similarity with the common hornet, which is found in Europe.

Peculiarities appearance: a huge wasp with a body length of 5 cm and a wingspan of up to 6 cm

The body color of vespa mandarinia is yellow-black. The head is bright (yellow), the chest is dark (black). The underparts are striped, but are characterized by wider stripes. There are long mustaches on the head.

Difference in size: Left - wasp, Right - giant hornet

One of the differences between the pest is its 5 eyes, two of which are large and three are small, located in the center. Additional organs of vision contribute to improved orientation in the area, in addition, the central eyes help the pest distinguish between light and dark colors.

In addition to the two main eyes, there are three eyes in the middle of the head. Which provides the ideal viewing angle

All these characteristics together make Vespa mandarinia a more noticeable insect. In the extended position, the wings overlap the human palm. This makes the pest noticeable, however, it will not protect against attack, since the insect develops a significant flight speed. You can only prevent contact with the pest by noticing the shelter or the pest itself in advance.

Lifestyle and eating habits

The Asian giant hornet does not differ in behavior from its counterparts of other species. The female begins to build a nest in early spring. However, its dimensions are significantly smaller than the final version. The main task at this stage is to lay the beginning of a colony, for which the female lays the first eggs. Then larvae emerge from them. They are formed into adults, which take on the responsibility of providing the queen and the “young animals” with food, and also perform the function of protecting the nest.

Asian hornets leave their shelter when necessary. However, the queen always remains in place, since after feeding the first generation of insects, its main function becomes a further increase in the number of the hornet colony. The feeding habits of insects are varied. They usually eat insects of various types: flies, caterpillars, bees, spiders, etc. However, pests can feast on meat and fish. Their diet includes fruits and berries.

They almost never use their sting to extract food. Kills other insects with powerful jaws

The food for the larvae is not so varied. For them, their adult counterparts hunt for insects. Adults hunt using only their own rather powerful mouthparts.

Reproduction process

Most pests die by the beginning of the rainy season in Asian territory. In Primorye (Russia), adult individuals die closer to winter. This means that insects live less than a year.

They live in paper nests made from chewed pieces of tree bark, sealed with salivary secretions.

Most of the colony are workers. When the number of pests has increased significantly, the queen lays eggs, from which females and males capable of reproduction emerge.

Then the mating period of insects begins, at the end of which the males die. Females remain alive to procreate. Their further task is to find a suitable shelter for wintering. In the spring they emerge to begin the establishment of a colony. Many adults die much earlier than expected. This is facilitated by various kinds of infections, mites or other insects that attack en masse, for example, bees in Asia.

How does poison affect humans?

The Asian giant hornet is known for its painful stings and the extremely poisonous substance it injects under the skin of its prey. Due to the fact that these pests do not have a jagged sting, like bees, they attack many times without the slightest harm to their body.

Its poison is considered one of the most toxic among all insects in general.

The venom of the giant hornet is considered the most dangerous. However, upon contact with an insect, a person often survives, since the pest injects only part of its supply of the toxic substance.

After a single bite, a physically healthy person will survive. However, with multiple contacts, the likelihood of death increases. This is possible if several adult hornets attack.

Most cases of contact with pests are united by a common reaction: severe allergic manifestations due to the presence of histamines in the toxic substance; swelling, the onset of an inflammatory process as a result of the presence of protein toxins; severe pain.

When a huge Asian hornet bites you, the symptoms can vary. It all depends on how the body reacts to third-party substances. In addition to the main manifestations (swelling, redness), other symptoms may also occur: fever, headache, tachycardia.

The body's first response to a sting is soft tissue swelling

The body of some patients is extremely sensitive, so even a single bite leads to death, which precedes anaphylactic shock. Typically, with multiple attacks on a physically healthy and less sensitive organism, tissue necrosis and hemorrhage are observed as a result of damage to internal organs.

Harm and benefits of insects

Significant harm and serious consequences as a result of contact with a giant hornet occur only if a person provoked the insect with his actions (usually sudden movements and an attempt to approach). This type of pest is not characterized by unlimited aggression. However, he is able to actively defend himself and his nest if he feels threatened. However, 40-100 people die from the poison of these insects every year.

The giant Asian bumblebee (as the hornet is called) causes the main damage to apiaries. It destroys a beekeeper's property in a matter of hours. Of course, this will require a group of insects. One hornet cannot cope with many bees. European bees are destroyed the fastest, as they are harmless.

Asian honey insects are capable of attacking a giant pest in a large group. At the same time, the bees begin to actively flap their wings, clinging to the hornet. It dies from a sharp increase in temperature within the radius of a living ball of honey insects.

They cause greater harm to apiaries, especially where less aggressive European bees are bred.

By and large, Asian hornets are more beneficial. They feed on insects that destroy cultivated plants of agricultural land, as well as forest pests. For this reason, it is not recommended to destroy hornets en masse. It's better to take precautions.

Sometimes in the world of insects and animals there are bizarre or terrible specimens. One of the terrifying insects that instills fear in humans is the Asian giant hornet (lat. Vespa mandarina) - the largest hornet in the world. Asian giant hornet it reaches a length of up to five centimeters, and its wingspan is seven and a half centimeters.

The Asian giant hornet lives in Korea, Nepal, and the mountainous regions of Sri Lanka. Here this huge insect can be found everywhere. In addition, they live in large numbers in the Primorsky Territory of the Russian Federation.

IN different countries Vespa mandarina are called differently. For example, in Taiwan it is called " tiger bee". It actually has a tiger color - black stripes on the yellow body of the insect. Most likely, the size of the hornet played an important role in this name. And in Japan the Asian huge hornet is called " sparrow bee" due to the large span of its wings.

Its sting reaches up to 6 millimeters. The venom produced by the Asian giant hornet is highly toxic. That is why the bite of this hornet is extremely dangerous for humans. In terms of toxicity, the bite of Vespa mandarina is many times more dangerous than the bites of other types of hornets, since the bite releases a large amount of poison. Once a Japanese entomologist, who was bitten by a huge Asian hornet, spoke about his sensations from the bite, comparing them to a hot nail that was driven into his leg. The bite of a giant hornet should be especially feared by those people who are allergic to wasp and bee venom - for them it is deadly. The venom of the Asian giant hornet contains a high concentration of an incredibly toxic substance - mandorotoxin, a large amount of which can kill a seemingly healthy person who is not allergic to bee venom.

So the bites large quantity Asian giant hornets or multiple stings from one individual can be fatal to a healthy person. In addition to mandorotoxin, the venom of this hornet also contains other toxic substances that have a destructive effect on the tissues of the human body, causing severe pain, and, worst of all, attracting other hornets. Acetylcholine is responsible for the ability to attract other individuals, 5% of which is contained in the venom of the Asian giant hornet. Like a wasp, the Asian giant hornet can use its sting multiple times. But during hunting, the Asian huge hornet uses its jaws, which are well developed and quite large. Having grabbed prey with its jaws, it crushes its victim with them.