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Species Vespa crabro - European Hornet

Is this a huge wasp? - Vespa crabro - male wasp or hornet maybe (DIN288) - Vespa crabro European Hornet - Vespa crabro - female European Hornet (Vespa crabro) - Vespa crabro Wasp sp. killing a Dwamp Darner. - Vespa crabro Large Yellowjacket - Vespa crabro - male Hornets girdling lilac - Vespa crabro European Hornet - Vespa crabro
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Vespoidea
Family Vespidae (Hornets, Yellowjackets; Paper, Potter, Mason, and Pollen Wasps; and Allies)
Subfamily Vespinae (Hornets and Yellowjackets)
Genus Vespa (Hornets)
Species crabro (European Hornet)
Other Common Names
Giant Hornet
Frelon européen (French)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
The population introduced to the US was designated as subspecies V. crabro germana.
Explanation of Names
Vespa crabro Linnaeus 1758
crabro 'hornet'
Size
Queen: 25-35 mm body length; 22-24 mm forewing length. Worker: 16-20 mm forewing length. Male: ~22 mm forewing length(1)
Identification
Key to separate this species from other hornets/yellowjackets. Major differences e.g. coloration also exist between it and Vespa mandarinia.

   
Queen (♀♀) Worker (♀) Male (♂)
Range
eastern North America: TX-GA-NY-MO / Ont. (BG data); recorded once in Arizona, US (https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2274084496) and British Columbia, CA (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/57703975); native to Eurasia

V. c. germana was introduced to New York in the mid-1800s(2) and was first detected as far south as Arkansas in 1999.(Barnes, 2004)
Habitat
Woodlands. Paper nest is built in hollow trees, or in human structures such as attics. Adults come to lights.
Food
Predatory on other insects, used to feed young. Also girdle twigs to drink sap.
Life Cycle
Queens emerge from hibernation during the spring, and they search for a suitable location in which to start a new nest. They build the nest with chewed wood pulp, and a few eggs are laid in individual paper cells; these eggs develop into non-reproductive workers. When 5-10 workers have emerged, they take over the care of the nest, and the rest of queen’s life is devoted solely to egg laying. The workers capture insects, bringing them back to the nest to feed the brood. Workers need more high-energy sugary foods such as sap and nectar, and hornet larvae are able to exude a sugary liquid which the workers can feed on.
The nest reaches its peak size towards mid September. At this time the queen lays eggs that develop into males (drones) and new queens, she then dies shortly after. The new queens and males mate during a 'nuptial flight', after which the males die, and the newly mated queens seek out suitable places in which to hibernate; the old nest is never re-used.

Nests and nest building
See Also
Eastern cicada-killer wasp, a common yet unrelated wasp of similar size
Internet References
Works Cited
1.Identification Atlas of the Vespidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata) of the Northeastern Nearctic Region
Matthias Buck, Stephen A. Marshall, and David K. B. Cheung. 2008. Biological Survey of Canada [Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification].
2.The Vespinae of North America (Vespidae, Hymenoptera)
L.S. Kimsey and J.M. Carpenter. 2012. Journal of Hymenoptera Research Vol. 28: 37–65.