Taxonomy
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae Laicharting, 1781
Subfamily: Vespinae Laicharting, 1781
Genus: Vespa Linnaeus, 1758
Species: Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836
Common names: Asian hornet, yellow-legged hornet, or Asian predatory wasp
Background
Vespa velutina is a hornet native to Asia but invasive in Europe. It is a generalist predator of medium to large-sized insects and will also scavenge vertebrate carrion. It can have significant impacts on flies and social Hymenoptera, such as honeybees. This invasive species threatens honey production and native pollinators. It may be introduced and transported accidentally with soil associated with plants, garden furniture, pots, timber, vegetables, camping equipment, etc. Although Vespa velutina has not been intercepted in North America yet, it is believed to have high invasion potential.
Distribution
Vespa velutina is native to Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, southern China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Malaya, and Indonesia. It has been introduced to Korea, Japan, France, Belgium, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Yemen (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27..
Diagnostic characteristics
It has distinctive yellow tarsitarsi:
segments at the end of the leg following the tibia
, a dark brown to black thorax, and metasomametasoma:
the posterior part of the body
that appear velvety.
To identify the genus:
- both pronotal and pretegular carinae present
- head vertexvertex:
the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
with the distance from posterior ocellusocellus:
single facet light reception organs; on the top of the adult head
to the posterior margin of vertexvertex:
the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
more than twice the distance between the posterior ocelliocelli:
single facet light reception organs; on the top of the adult head
and the compound eye
- basal basal:
originating at the foundation of a structure
metasomal segment anteriorly rounded
- forewing forewing:
the front wing attached to the middle thoracic segment
prestigma three times or more as long as the pterostigma (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27.
To identify the species:
- distinctively velvety brown to black thorax and metasomametasoma:
the posterior part of the body
(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27.
- tarsi yellow contrasting with darker femorafemora:
the third segment of the leg, situated between the trochanter and the tibia
and tibiae
- side of prothorax next to spiraclespiracle:
a breathing pore, usually occurring on the third thoracic segment
rugose (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27.
- metasomal tergumtergum:
the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a speciifc segment, such as T1, T2, etc.
2 often with only a narrow apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
yellow or orange bandband:
usually referring to bands of hair or bands of color that traverse across an abdominal segment
(Archer 1994)(Archer 1994):
Archer ME. 1994. A phylogenetic study of the species of the genus Vespa . Insect Systematics and Evolution 24: 469ndash;478. doi: 10.1163/187631293X00226
Biology/Life cycle
This species preys on a variety of insects ranging from dragonflies to grasshoppers, but it also preys on pollinators, particularly honeybees (Keeling et al. 2017)(Keeling et al. 2017):
Keeling MJ, DN Franklin, S Datta, MA Brown, amp; GE Budge. 2017. Predicting the spread of the Asian hornet ( Vespa velutina ) fol- lowing its incursion into Great Britain. Scientific Reports 7: 1ndash;7.. Commercial honeybees (Apis mellifera) have no defense against these hornets, although the wild species, Apis cerana, have a variety of colony defenses including balling behavior (Abrol 2006). Vespa velutina also prey on insects, such as stable flies and blow flies, to feed their larvaelarvae:
active immature form of an insect, especially one that differs greatly from the adult and forms the stage between egg and pupa
. Adults generally only feed on nectar and other sugar sources.
Colonies of V. velutina are annual. In optimal conditions, a founder queen builds an embryo nest in the spring and workers build combs around it. In the summer, the embryo nest, or primary nest, is left and a larger secondary nest is built in the same location or a new site, depending on where conditions are better (Herrera et al. 2019)(Herrera et al. 2019):
Herrera C, A Marqueacute;s, V Colomar, amp; MM Leza. 2019. Analysis of the secondary nest of the yellow-legged hornet found in the Balearic Islands reveals its high adaptability to Mediterranean isolated ecosystems. Island Invasives: scaling up to meet the challenge..
May be confused with
Vespa bicolor
- V. bicolor mesoscutellum and metanotum entirely or mostly yellow
- V. bicolor vertexvertex:
the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
black (Archer 1994)(Archer 1994):
Archer ME. 1994. A phylogenetic study of the species of the genus Vespa . Insect Systematics and Evolution 24: 469ndash;478. doi: 10.1163/187631293X00226
Vespa crabro
- V. velutina generally smaller bodied, with yellow tarsitarsi:
segments at the end of the leg following the tibia
(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27.
Vespa simillima
- V. simillima second gastral tergumtergum:
the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a speciifc segment, such as T1, T2, etc.
either mostly yellow or orange, or with a yellow bandband:
usually referring to bands of hair or bands of color that traverse across an abdominal segment
extending basally at least one-third of the way across the tergumtergum:
the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a speciifc segment, such as T1, T2, etc.
(Archer 1994)(Archer 1994):
Archer ME. 1994. A phylogenetic study of the species of the genus Vespa . Insect Systematics and Evolution 24: 469ndash;478. doi: 10.1163/187631293X00226
Vespa vivax
- V. vivax side of prothorax close to spiraclespiracle:
a breathing pore, usually occurring on the third thoracic segment
smooth
- V. vivax mesothoraxmesothorax:
the middle of the three segments of the thorax
and propodeumpropodeum:
the last segment of the thorax
with same coloration (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27.
Known introductions
Vespa velutina is invasive in western Europe, South Korea, and Japan. The invasive color form in Europe has been referred to as V. velutina nigrithorax, although this name no longer has any taxonomic standing.
