Hornets

Hornets
Hornet ( Vespa crabro )
Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta) Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera) Superfamily : Vespoidea Family : Wasps (Vespidae) Subfamily : Real wasps (Vespinae) Genre : Hornets
Scientific name
Vespa
Linnaeus , 1758

The hornets ( Vespa ) are a genus of the hymenoptera (Hymenoptera) from the family of the social wasps (Vespidae). The species that gives it its name and is best known in Central Europe is the hornet ( Vespa crabro ).

features

Head of the Asian giant hornet ( Vespa mandarinia )

Hornets are the largest real wasps , their workers usually reach body lengths of around 20 millimeters. In the species Vespa ducalis , which occurs in the Himalayas , the queens can reach a length of 40 millimeters and a wingspan of 80 millimeters. The animals are usually conspicuously colored, with a brown to blackish-brown basic color and strong yellow patterns on the thorax and the tergites of the abdomen .

They differ from the other real wasps in their size and a number of head features. The rear of its three point eyes are closer together than to the complex eyes and are closer to them than to the occiput . The vertex is elongated.

Seen from the front, the larvae have a slightly flattened dorsoventral head to almost round. The ratio of head width to height is 1.21 to 1.50, the ratio of head width to the width of the mouthparts 1.33 to 1.61. The frontal furrow is clearly pronounced. The labrum is widest at the base. The mandibles are relatively short.

Occurrence

Hornets occur in tropical to temperate zones , with the genus mainly spreading in East Asia, from where some species have spread over Southeast Asia and some South Pacific islands to New Guinea . The common hornet ( Vespa crabro ) and the oriental hornet ( Vespa orientalis ) occur west to Europe . The common hornet was also naturalized in North America. A large fossil Vespa species is known from the late Oligocene or early Miocene at Cannon Ferry (North Carolina, United States).

nutrition

Hornets feed mostly carnivorous , they hunt and prey on other insects. In very rare cases hornets will also eat carrion, but usually prefer live prey. The prey of a medium-sized colony of around 300 to 400 animals is given as half a kilogram per day in the high season (summer). In addition, they prefer high-carbohydrate diet in the form of sweet juices such as tree sap of oak or ash , fermenting fallen fruit and flower nectar .

Hornet's Nest

Systematics

Within the real wasps (Vespinae) the genus Provespa is the sister taxon to Vespa .

Oriental hornet ( Vespa orientalis )

Vespa simillima

Vespa velutina

The genus Vespa contains about 23 species:

• Vespa affinis
• Vespa analis
• Vespa basalis
• Vespa bellicosa
• Vespa bicolor
• Vespa binghami
• Hornet ( Vespa crabro )
• Vespa ducalis
• Vespa dybowskii
• Vespa fervida
• Vespa fumida
• Vespa luctuosa
• Asian giant hornet ( Vespa mandarinia )
• Vespa mocsaryana
• Vespa multimaculata
• Oriental hornet ( Vespa orientalis )
• Vespa philippinensis
• Vespa simillima
• Vespa soror
• Vespa tropica
• Vespa velutina
• Vespa vivax

In 2013 Perrard et al. on the basis of morphological and DNA sequence studies, the following cladogram has been proposed for the relationships between the species:

Vespa basalis     Vespa binghami     Vespa fumida     Vespa soror     Vespa mandarinia     Vespa philippinensis     Vespa tropica     Vespa ducalis     Vespa dybowskii     Vespa crabro     Vespa orientalis     Vespa moscaryana     Vespa affinis     Vespa analis     Vespa luctuosa     Vespa fervida     Vespa multimaculata     Vespa bellicosa     Vespa bicolor     Vespa simillima     Vespa vivax     Vespa velutina

Individual evidence

1. ^ William H. Robinson: Handbook of urban insects and arachnids . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2005, ISBN 0-521-81253-4 , pp. 273-276 .
2. ↑ James M. Carpenter, Lien Phuong Thi Nguyen: Keys to the genera of social wasps of South-East (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) . In: Entomological Science . tape 6 , 2003, ISSN  1343-8786 , p. 183-192 .
3. ↑ Seiki Yamane: Morphological and taxonomic studies on vespine larvae, with reference to the phylogeny of the subfamily Vespinae (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) . In: Insecta Matsumurana . New Series 8, 1976, ISSN  0020-1804 , pp. 1–45 (English, full text [PDF; 2.1 MB ]).
4. ^ Makoto Matsuura: The Social Biology of Wasps . Ed .: Kenneth G. Ross, Robert W. Matthews. Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY et al. 1991, ISBN 0-8014-9906-2 , Vespa and Provespa, pp. 232-257 .
5. ↑ David A. Grimaldi, Michael S. Engel: Evolution of the insects . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2005, ISBN 0-521-82149-5 , pp. 89 .
6. ↑ Jürgen Schmitz, Robin FA Moritz: Molecular Phylogeny of Vespidae (Hymenoptera) and the Evolution of Sociality in Wasps . In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . tape 9 , no. 2 , 1998, ISSN  1055-7903 , p. 183-191 .
7. ↑ James M. Carpenter, Jun-ichi Kojima: Checklist of the species in the subfamily Vespinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae) . In: Natural history bulletin of Ibaraki University . tape 1 , 1997, ISSN  1343-0955 , pp. 51–92 (English, full text [PDF; 3.0 MB ]).
8. ↑ Adrien Perrard, Kurt M. Pickett, Claire Villemant, Jun-ichi Kojima, James Carpenter: Phylogeny of hornets: a total evidence approach (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Vespinae, Vespa) . In: Journal of Hymenoptera Research . tape 32 , 1994, pp. 1–15 (English, full text ).

Web links

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