Vespa crabro

SPECIES: Vespa crabro (order Hymenoptera)

COMMON NAME: European hornet

SIZE: The female can reach up to 5 cm in length, while males and workers measure 2 - 2.5 cm.

LIFECYCLE: begins in spring. After overwintering, the queen starts work on her nest, starting to build the first cells and initiating the construction of the protective cover. She then starts to lay eggs, while the workers collaborate, after a few weeks, in nest building, setting up new cells and then feeding the larvae. By the end of summer there are males and fertilised females. In autumn, the queen, the workers, and the males die. The young fertilised females are the only ones to survive the winter, thus ensuring the new colony in the spring.

FEATURES: reddish brown with yellow spots and stripes. The largest Vespine present in Europe. Colonies comprise a few hundred individuals.

HABITAT: Normally builds nests above ground, similar to those of V. germanica, and mostly in holes in the trunks of trees. It is built of pulped wood, similar to the composition of cardboard.

DIET: The European Hornet is a predator and feeds on a variety of insects, including bees.

DAMAGE: As in the case of wasps and bees, its sting has only localised, transient effects on most people, but allergic people may suffer anaphylactic reactions that are almost always deadly.

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