Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Vespoidea » Hornets, Yellowjackets; Paper, Potter, Mason, and Pollen Wasps; and Allies (Vespidae) » Hornets and Yellowjackets (Vespinae) » Hornets (Vespa)

Genus Vespa - Hornets

European hornet - Vespa crabro - Vespa crabro - female

European Hornet 30mm and Grasshopper prey - Vespa crabro - female

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)

Numbers

A single established and exotic species in our area, Vespa crabro, native to Europe and Asia.(1)

Remarks

Adventive colonies of species that failed to become established have been reported for several additional species:

V. simillima (British Columbia, published 1997)(2)

V. affinis (California, 2010)(3)

V. soror (British Columbia, 2019)(4)

V. mandarinia (Washington and British Columbia, 2019-2021) - native to Asia and the Russian Far East. By 2022, there have been no new sightings.

V. velutina (Georgia, August 2023) - ongoing assessment with 5 nests discovered: Savannah (August 2023), Wilmington Island (September 15), Thunderbolt (October 11, October 18), and Skidway Island (October 25)

Internet References

Invasive Hornets Project. Images of all known Vespa species

Works Cited

1.	Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico Karl V. Krombein, Paul D. Hurd, Jr., David R. Smith, and B. D. Burks. 1979. Smithsonian Institution Press.

2.	Checklist of the species of the subfamily Vespinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae) Carpenter, James M., and Jun-ichi Kojima. 1997. Nat. Hist. Bulletin of Ibaraki Univ. 1:51-92.

3.	The Vespinae of North America (Vespidae, Hymenoptera) L.S. Kimsey and J.M. Carpenter. 2012. Journal of Hymenoptera Research Vol. 28: 37–65.

4.	First record of Vespa crabro Linnaeus in western North America with a review of recorded species of Vespa Linnaeus in Canada Amber Bass, Karen Needham, & Andrew M R Bennett. 2022. Zootaxa, 5154(3): 305-318.

Contributed by Cotinis on 20 September, 2004 - 11:18pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Tony-2, Ben Coulter, v belov, PaleoJon, bdagley
Last updated 30 November, 2023 - 4:54pm

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