Asian hornet

Vespa velutina is significantly smaller than the European hornet. Typically, queens are {{cvt|30|mm}} in length, and males about {{cvt|24|mm}}. Workers measure about {{cvt|20|mm}} in length.{{cite web |url=http://www.vespa-bicolor.net/main/vespid/vespa-velutina.htm|title=Vespa velutina|last=Lee|first=John X. Q.|work=vespa-bicolor.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210173734/http://www.vespa-bicolor.net/main/vespid/vespa-velutina.htm|archive-date=10 February 2018|url-status=live}} The species has distinctive yellow tarsi (legs). The thorax is a velvety brown or black with a brown abdomen. Each abdominal segment has a narrow posterior yellow border, except for the fourth segment, which is orange. The head is black and the face yellow. Regional forms vary sufficiently in color to cause difficulties in classification, and several subspecies have been variously identified and ultimately rejected; while a history of recognizing subspecies within many of the Vespa species exists, including V.{{spaces}}velutina, the most recent taxonomic revision of the genus treats all subspecific names in the genus Vespa as synonyms, effectively relegating them to no more than informal names for regional color forms.{{cite journal|author1=A.H. Smith-Pardo |author2=J.M. Carpenter |author3=L. Kimsey |date=2020 |title=The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Vespinae), their importance and interceptions in the United States |volume=4|issue=3 |journal=Insect Systematics and Diversity |doi=10.1093/isd/ixaa006}} The color form causing concern about its invasiveness in Europe has been referred to as V.{{spaces}}v.{{spaces}}nigrithorax,{{ cite web |title=

European Alien Species Information Network - Species Explorer - Species Factsheet - Vespa velutina nigrithorax |url=https://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu/spexplorer/species/factsheet/R15970 |website=europa.eu |access-date=2023-12-30 }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33847252|title=Pitcher plant in France eats bee-killing Asian hornets|date=10 August 2015|work=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206050149/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33847252|archive-date=6 February 2018|url-status=live}} though this name no longer has any taxonomic standing.

Like other hornets, V.{{spaces}}velutina builds nests that may house colonies of several thousand individuals. Females in the colony are armed with formidable stingers with which they defend their nests and kill their prey. The nest is of paper, roughly in the shape of a huge egg, usually at least half a meter (20") long. Unlike the nest of the European hornet (V.{{spaces}}crabro), its exit is usually lateral rather than at the bottom. The nesting season is long, and a colony commonly begins by building a nest in a low shrub, then abandoning it after some months and rapidly building a new one high in a tree, possibly as an antiparasitic measure. The next generation of young queens disperses in the late autumn to hibernate over winter.{{cite web|url=https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/109164 |title=Vespa velutina|series=Invasive Species Compendium |year=2014|location=Wallingford, UK|publisher=CAB International|website=cabi.org/isc}}

File:Paula Jorge - vespas.jpg|V. velutina nest on tree

File:Vespa vélutina.jpg| V. velutina nest

File:Nid de frelon asiatique (Vespa velutina) -3.jpg|Inner structure of nest

File:Vespa_Munsiyari.jpg|V. velutina from the Central Himalayas, India

V.{{spaces}}velutina opportunistically hunts a very wide range of insects, including flies, dragonflies, and Orthoptera, typically capturing them by pursuit.

The major concern about their invasiveness, however, is that when they find a honey bee colony or an apiary, they tend to settle down and specialize in honey bees as their prey, as do the larger Japanese giant hornets. A hornet occupies a position above a beehive as its hunting territory. It flies about within an area of about {{convert|1/2|m2|sqyd|spell=in}}, scanning the direction from which foraging honey bees return to the hive. Each hornet vigorously defends its hunting territory, chasing off any rivals. However, as soon as it catches a bee, it flies off and another hornet replaces it, usually within a few seconds. The circadian activities of the two species are similar, and the hunting hornets match them; their most intense activity is in the morning and afternoon, not near dusk or noon.

In its native range, V.{{spaces}}velutina mainly hunts Apis cerana, the eastern honey bee, which has evolved a strategy of avoiding hovering hornets by rapid entry and exit from the hive when hornets are about. The guard bees also ball hornets to death. However, where A.{{spaces}}mellifera, the western honey bee, has been imported, V.{{spaces}}velutina finds them easier prey than A.{{spaces}}cerana, because A.{{spaces}}mellifera has not been subjected to selection for countering concentrated hawking by hornets. For example, A.{{spaces}}mellifera approach their hives more indirectly and slowly when they detect hawking hornets, instead of darting in as fast as possible in the way that A.{{spaces}}cerana does. They also ball hornets, but less effectively, and they do not achieve as high a temperature in the ball. Furthermore, when they detect that hornets are hawking, A.{{spaces}}cerana tend to withdraw into the nest, but A.{{spaces}}mellifera do not.

A.{{spaces}}cerana guard bees also use wing shimmering in response to the presence of V.{{spaces}}velutina. This has variously been suggested to be an aposematic signal or a strategy for disruption of visual patterns, similar to the behavior of Apis cerana nuluensis and Apis dorsata,{{cite journal|last1=Koeniger|first1=N.|last2=Koeniger|first2=G.|last3=Gries|first3=M.|last4=Tingek|first4=S.|last5=Kelitu|first5=A..|year=1996|title=Observations on colony defense of Apis nuluensis and predatory behaviour of the hornet, Vespa multimaculata Pérez, 1910 |url=https://www.apidologie.org/articles/apido/pdf/1996/05/Apidologie_0044-8435_1996_27_5_ART0002.pdf|journal=Apidologie|volume=27|pages=341–352|doi=10.1051/apido:19960502|issn=0044-8435|doi-access=free}} but instead has been shown, in conjunction with rocking, to be endothermic heat production in preparation for a ball attack on the hornet.{{cite journal

|last1=Tan|first1=K.

|last2=Li|first2=H.

|last3=Yang|first3=M.X.

|last4=Hepburn|first4=H.R.

|last5=Radloff|first5=S.E.

|year=2010|title=Wasp hawking induces endothermic heat production in guard bees

|journal=Journal of Insect Science|volume=10

|issue=142

|pages=1–6

|pmc=3016720 | doi=10.1673/031.010.14102

|pmid=21073346

|issn= 1536-2442

|doi-access=free}}

Whilst A.{{spaces}}mellifera, also ball attack hornets, they exhibit no such endothermic heat production behavior, and when A.{{spaces}}mellifera occurs together with A.{{spaces}}cerana, the hornet V.{{spaces}}velutina preferentially hawks A.{{spaces}}mellifera foragers.

File:Known distribution of the different colour morphs of Asian predatory wasp (Vespa velutina) across south-east Asia.png

V.{{spaces}}velutina originates from Southeast Asia, particularly the tropical regions, from northern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Taiwan, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Indo-Chinese peninsula, and surrounding archipelagoes.

As an invasive species, the Asian hornet appeared earliest in France, Spain, Portugal, South Korea, and Japan. Further invasions are ongoing in various countries, including much of Europe.{{cite journal|last1=Monceau|first1=Karine|last2=Bonnard|first2=Olivier|last3=Thiéry|first3=Denis|year=2014|title=Vespa velutina: a new invasive predator of honeybees in Europe|journal=Journal of Pest Science|volume=87|issue=1|pages=1–16|doi=10.1007/s10340-013-0537-3|bibcode=2014JPesS..87....1M |s2cid=207072057 }} Humans have been attacked after disturbing hornets; although the species is not aggressive, it "charges in a group as soon as it feels its nest is threatened".{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6049302/Tourists-warned-as-Asian-hornets-terrorise-French.html|title=Tourists warned as Asian hornets terrorise French|last=Samuel|first=Henry|date=19 August 2009|work=The Daily Telegraph|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505200009/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6049302/Tourists-warned-as-Asian-hornets-terrorise-French.html|archive-date=5 May 2016|url-status=live}} People have been hospitalised in France after suffering anaphylactic shock as a result of multiple stings. Because of Asian hornets' larger size, their stings are more serious than those of western honey bees. In November 2017, a man was killed in Galicia, Spain after being stung over 20 times while pruning an apple tree.{{cite news|url=http://www.crtvg.es/informativos/morre-un-vecino-do-porrino-atacado-por-avespas-velutinas-mentres-cortaba-unha-arbore|title=Morre un veciño do Porriño atacado por avespas velutinas mentres cortaba unha árbore|date=15 November 2017|work=CRTVG|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424093531/http://www.crtvg.es/informativos/morre-un-vecino-do-porrino-atacado-por-avespas-velutinas-mentres-cortaba-unha-arbore|archive-date=24 April 2018|url-status=dead|language=gl}} Several people have died in south west France near the original introduction site, including a resident of Chaillevette, Charente-Maritime,{{cite web | last=O.Riou | first=C.Hinckel et | title=Charente-Maritime : polémique sur la lutte contre les frelons asiatiques après la mort d'un habitant de Chaillevette | website=France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine | date=2015-11-26 | url=http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/nouvelle-aquitaine/charente-maritime/charente-maritime-polemique-sur-la-lutte-contre-les-frelons-asiatiques-apres-la-mort-d-un-habitant-de-chaillevette-863449.html | language=fr | access-date=2020-11-13}} a 60-year-old woman in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine in 2019,{{cite web | author=AR | title=Gironde : une sexagénaire décède après une piqûre de frelon asiatique à Grayan-et-l'Hôpital | website=France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine | date=2019-08-01 | url=http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/nouvelle-aquitaine/gironde/gironde-sexagenaire-decede-apres-piqure-frelon-asiatique-grayan-hopital-1706188.html | language=fr | access-date=2020-11-13}} and a farmer in Orival, Charente in 2020.{{cite web | last=Hinckel | first=Christine | title=Charente : un agriculteur meurt attaqué par un essaim de frelons asiatiques | website=France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine | date=2020-11-08 | url=http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/nouvelle-aquitaine/charente/angouleme/charente-agriculteur-meurt-attaque-essaim-frelons-asiatiques-1892718.html | language=fr | access-date=2020-11-13}} There were nineteen confirmed Asian hornet sightings in England between 2016 and 2020, including ten nests, all of which were destroyed.{{Cite web |title=Asian hornet: UK sightings |work=UK Government |date=15 September 2020 |access-date=9 December 2020 |url= https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asian-hornet-uk-sightings}} Page gets updated with details of further sightings.

The Asian hornet has been reported as naturalised on the Japanese island of Tsushima since about 2010.{{cite news|url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/nagasaki/news/20130918-OYT8T01210.htm|title=外来種ツマアカスズメバチの巣採取 数年前から対馬に帰化|date=18 September 2013|work=Yomiuri Shimbun|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130922162331/http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/nagasaki/news/20130918-OYT8T01210.htm|archive-date=22 September 2013|url-status=dead|language=ja}}

In Europe, the Asian hornet is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern ("the Union list"),{{Cite web|title=List of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern - Environment - European Commission|url=https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/invasivealien/list/index_en.htm|access-date=2021-07-27|website=ec.europa.eu}} meaning that it cannot be intentionally imported, kept, bred, transported (except for purposes of eradication), offered for sale, used or exchanged, permitted to reproduce in any way, or released into the environment, in the European Union.{{Cite web|title=REGULATION (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European parliament and of the council of 22 October 2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32014R1143&from=EN|website=Eur-lex.europa.eu}}

In August 2023, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, in coordination with the United States Department of Agriculture Plant & Animal Health Inspection Service and the University of Georgia, confirmed the presence of a yellow-legged hornet near Savannah, Ga. This is the first time a live specimen of this species has been detected in the United States.{{cite web|url=https://agr.georgia.gov/yellow-legged-hornet|title=Georgia Department of Agriculture Yellow-Legged Hornet|date=15 August 2023}} This was followed by the first report of the species from South Carolina in November 2023, and the discovery of nests in 2024.{{Cite web |title=Yellow Legged Hornet {{!}} Public {{!}} Clemson University, South Carolina |url=https://www.clemson.edu/public/regulatory/plant-industry/invasive/ylh.html |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=www.clemson.edu}}{{Cite web |date=17 June 2024 |title=Yellow-Legged Hornet {{!}} Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service |url=https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-pests-diseases/yellow-legged-hornet |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=www.aphis.usda.gov}}

Climate change may increase invasive success of the yellow-legged hornet in northern Europe and the US due to increased temperatures,{{Cite journal |last=Barbet-Massin |first=Morgane |last2=Rome |first2=Quentin |last3=Muller |first3=Franck |last4=Perrard |first4=Adrien |last5=Villemant |first5=Claire |last6=Jiguet |first6=Frédéric |date=2013-01-01 |title=Climate change increases the risk of invasion by the Yellow-legged hornet |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320712004107 |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=157 |pages=4–10 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2012.09.015 |issn=0006-3207}} although warmer temperatures are not necessary for the establishment of this species in these regions.

V.{{spaces}}velutina has become an invasive species in France, where it is believed to have arrived in boxes of pottery from China in 2004.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/aug/23/invasion-bee-eating-hornet-courtois|title=Invasion of the Asian bee-eating hornet|last=Courtois|first=Claudia|date=23 August 2011|work=The Guardian|access-date=13 December 2024}} By 2009, several thousand nests were in the area of Bordeaux and surrounding departments,{{cite web|url=http://spn.mnhn.fr/spn_rapports/archivage_rapports/2009/SPN%202009%20-%207%20-%20Vespa%20velutina.pdf|title=Evaluation des populations du Frelon asiatique (Vespa velutina, Lepeletier 1836) en France|date=October 2009|website=Spn.mnhn.fr|access-date=16 March 2022|archive-date=16 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416125739/http://spn.mnhn.fr/spn_rapports/archivage_rapports/2009/SPN%202009%20-%207%20-%20Vespa%20velutina.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://spn.mnhn.fr/spn_rapports/archivage_rapports/2009/SPN%202009%20-%207%20-%20Vespa%20velutina.pdf|title=Evaluation des populations du Frelon asiatique (Vespa velutina, Lepeletier 1836) en France: Conséquences écologiques et socio-économiques. Proposition de mise en œuvre d'un plan d'action.|last1=Villemant|first1=Claire|last2=Muller|first2=Franck|date=October 2009|publisher=Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731213251/http://spn.mnhn.fr/spn_rapports/archivage_rapports/2009/SPN%202009%20-%207%20-%20Vespa%20velutina.pdf|archive-date=31 July 2018|url-status=live|last3=Rome|first3=Quentin|last4=Thierry|first4=Denis}} and by the end of 2015, they were reported over most of France.{{Cite web|url=http://www.inra.fr/%2FGrand-public%2FRessources-et-milieux-naturels%2FTous-les-dossiers%2FLutte-contre-le-frelon-asiatique-a-pattes-jaunes|title=Lutte contre le frelon asiatique à pattes jaunes|last=Léveillé|first=Patricia|date=18 February 2013|publisher=French National Institute for Agricultural Research|language=fr|access-date=20 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228111620/http://www.inra.fr/Grand-public/Ressources-et-milieux-naturels/Tous-les-dossiers/Lutte-contre-le-frelon-asiatique-a-pattes-jaunes|archive-date=28 February 2019|url-status=dead}}

The Asian hornet spread to northern Spain, as confirmed in 2010 by the Beekeepers' Association of the Basque Country (Gipuzkoako Erlezainen Elkartea) and the Neiker entomology institute in Irún, after breeding colonies were found.[http://www.thereader.es/en/local-business-a-finance/5265-bee-killing-asian-hornet-confirmed-in-spain.html Bee killing Asian hornet confirmed in Spain] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126103127/http://www.thereader.es/en/local-business-a-finance/5265-bee-killing-asian-hornet-confirmed-in-spain.html |date=November 26, 2010 }}, The Reader, November 21, 2010 In September 2013, a beekeeper from Rasines, Cantabria, documented the hornets' presence in two specimens.{{cite news|title=La avispa asiatica ´devora-abejas´ llega Cantabria| url=http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/agrosfera/avispa-asiatica-devora-abejas-llega-cantabria/2091019/|access-date=29 June 2015|work=rtve.es/|date=16 October 2013}} In June 2015, firemen destroyed a nest in Santander.{{cite news|url=https://www.europapress.es/cantabria/noticia-bomberos-santander-retiran-panal-avispa-asiatica-portal-gerardo-diego-20150623223424.html|title=Retiran un panal de avispa asiática en Santander|date=24 June 2015|work=Europa Press|access-date=29 June 2015|language=es}}

It was first reported in Portugal in 2011.{{Cite news|url=https://www.publico.pt/2013/09/28/local/noticia/ja-foram-destruidos-78-ninhos-de-vespa-asiatica-em-viana-do-castelo-1607407|title=Já foram destruídos 78 ninhos de vespa asiática em Viana do Castelo|last=Cruz|first=Andrea|date=28 September 2013|work=Público|language=pt}} The first observation in southern Belgium was also reported in 2011.{{cite web|url=https://www.natuurpunt.be/nieuws/aziatische-hoornaar-voor-het-eerst-belgië-20111020 |access-date=2023-12-30 |language=nl |title=Aziatische hoornaar voor het eerst in België }} By 2017, the species had spread across the country.{{cite news |author= |date=8 May 2017 |title=Asian hornets alert in Belgium: warning to beekeepers |url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/world-all-news/wildlife/42343/asian-hornets-alert-in-belgium-warning-to-beekeepers/ |work=The Brussels Times |location=Belgium |access-date=11 February 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2017/10/04/allesverslindende--monsterwesp--gesignaleerd-in-vlaanderen-/|title=Allesverslindende "monsterwesp" opnieuw gesignaleerd in Vlaanderen|last=Matyn|first=Joppe|date=4 October 2017|language=nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212170858/https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2017/10/04/allesverslindende--monsterwesp--gesignaleerd-in-vlaanderen-/|archive-date=12 February 2019|url-status=live}}

It was reported in Liguria, Italy in 2012.{{cite news|url=http://www.repubblica.it/scienze/2016/12/06/news/cresce_l_allarme_in_italia_per_la_vespa_velutina-153589423/|title=Cresce l'allarme in Italia per la vespa velutina|date=6 December 2006|work=la Repubblica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170125052306/https://www.repubblica.it/scienze/2016/12/06/news/cresce_l_allarme_in_italia_per_la_vespa_velutina-153589423/|archive-date=25 January 2017|url-status=live|language=it}} According to Italian Beekepers' Association in 2017, the Asian hornet was well established in northwestern regions of Italy, and colonization is steadily advancing.{{cite web|last1=Velutina - Dov'è|title=Mappa degli avvistamenti|url=http://www.stopvelutina.it/dove/|website=Stop-Velutina}}

The Asian hornet was first sighted in Germany in 2014. Following a series of warm and dry summers, the population tripled between 2021 and 2022.{{cite news |title=Gefahr für Honigbienen? Immer mehr asiatische Hornissen |url=https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/panorama/asiatische-hornisse-ausbreitung-gefahr-heimische-insekten-100.html |access-date=20 June 2023 |work=ZDF |agency=Deutsche Presse-Agentur |date=5 March 2023 |language=German}}

The first sighting on the UK mainland was announced on 20 September 2016 and occurred near Tetbury in Gloucestershire; the nest was found and destroyed and no breeding adults were found within.{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/asian-hornet-identified-in-gloucestershire|title=Asian hornet identified in Gloucestershire|date=20 September 2016|website=GOV.UK|access-date=21 September 2016}} A nest was reported on the Channel Island of Alderney in 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.pestcontrolnews.com/asian-hornet-identified-first-time-alderney-channel-islands/|title=Asian hornet identified for the first time in the Channel Islands|date=12 July 2016|website=Pest Control News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011201940/https://www.pestcontrolnews.com/asian-hornet-identified-first-time-alderney-channel-islands/|archive-date=11 October 2016|url-status=dead|access-date=12 July 2016}}

In 2017 the first observation the Netherlands was recorded in Zeeland.{{ Cite web |url=https://observation.org/observation/144133798/ |title=Asian hornet reported on 2017-09-17 at 11:15 in Dreischor, Zeeland }} on Observation.org In 2023, V.{{spaces}}velutina was reported in all provinces.

{{cite journal

|title=De opmars van de Aziatische hoornaar (Vespa velutina) naar Nederland

|url=https://www.eis-nederland.nl/Portals/4/pdfs/EB%2078%20(1)%20p2-6.pdf?ver=hsxspsWTsRVu1vaHkjAGYw%3d%3d

|journal=Entomologische Berichten

|date=2018

|volume=78

|issue=1

|pages=2–6

|language=nl

}}

In 2020, the first record for Luxembourg was reported.{{cite book |editor1= Ries, C. |editor2=M. Pfeiffenschneider |date=2020 |chapter=Vespa velutina nigrithorax du Buysson, 1905 |title=neobiota.lu - Invasive Alien Species in Luxembourg |publisher=National Museum of Natural History, Luxembourg |url=https://neobiota.lu/vespa-velutina/ |access-date=2020-09-15}}Ries, C. et al., 2021. First records and distribution of the invasive alien hornet Vespa velutina nigrithorax du Buysson, 1905 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Luxembourg. Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 123: 181-193.

A single "alive but dying" Asian hornet was discovered in Dublin, Ireland in 2021, but to date appears to not have become established on the island.{{cite news|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/asian-hornet-found-dublin-ireland-5431326-May2021/|title=Single Asian hornet found 'alive but dying' in north Dublin home|publisher=TheJournal.ie|first=Lauren|last=Boland|date=7 May 2021|accessdate=7 May 2021}}

Biocontrol of Vespa velutina has been attempted using Sarracenia purpurea - the purple pitcher plant. Pitcher plants are natural bottle traps. Both of these are invasives in France and pitchers were found to be naturally catching hornets, and so were investigated as a biocontrol.{{cite web|url=http://amap.cirad.fr/fichiers_up/Agenda/20200127_Corentin_Dupont_JeudiAMAP.pdf|title=Morphological, colour and odour traits of Sarracenia pitcher plants involved in the capture of the Asian hornet|author1=C. Dupont|author2=D. Gomez|author3=L. Gaume|website=Amap.ciras.fr|access-date=2020-10-09|archive-date=2021-07-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721143608/https://amap.cirad.fr/fichiers_up/Agenda/20200127_Corentin_Dupont_JeudiAMAP.pdf|url-status=dead}} However Sarracenia purpurea has been judged too unselective to use after closer study.{{ cite journal| author1=Wycke M-A|author2=Perrocheau R|author3=Darrouzet E|date=2018|title= Sarracenia carnivorous plants cannot serve as efficient biological control of the invasive hornet Vespa velutina nigrithorax in Europe|journal=Rethinking Ecology |volume=3|pages=41–50|doi=10.3897/rethinkingecology.3.28516| s2cid=91375714|doi-access=free}}{{ cite web | url=http://www.botany.one/2018/11/can-carnivorous-plants-control-an-invasive-hornet/ | title=Can carnivorous plants control an invasive hornet? |website=Botany.one| date=20 November 2018 }} The endoparasitic fly Conops vesicularis has been found to attack V.{{spaces}}velutina queens in France, preventing the affected queens from establishing colonies.{{cite journal |last1=Darrouzet |first1=Eric |last2=Gévar |first2=Jérémy |last3=Dupont |first3=Simon |title=A scientific note about a parasitoid that can parasitize the yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax, in Europe |journal=Apidologie |date=January 2015 |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=130–132 |doi=10.1007/s13592-014-0297-y|s2cid=256200498 }} In South Korea, two species of Xenos (Strepsiptera) have been found to parasitize the yellow-legged hornet.{{Cite journal |last=Kim |first=Il-Kwon |last2=Kim |first2=Chang-Jun |last3=Choi |first3=Jeong-Hwan |last4=Kang |first4=Hyun Jun |last5=Choi |first5=Moon Bo |date=2025 |title=Stylopization by Xenos spp. (Xenidae, Strepsiptera) in invasive alien hornet, Vespa velutina, in South Korea |url=https://www.parasite-journal.org/articles/parasite/full_html/2025/01/parasite220061/parasite220061.html |journal=Parasite |language=en |volume=32 |pages=10 |doi=10.1051/parasite/2025004 |issn=1776-1042 |pmc=11832165 |pmid=39961041}} Scientists in Spain found a European honey buzzard had predated on hornets as soon as they reached its territory, showcasing the potential of this predatory bird as a way to mitigate the invasion.{{ cite web | url=https://www.birdguides.com/articles/ornithology/european-honey-buzzards-prey-on-invasive-hornets/ | title=European Honey Buzzards prey on invasive hornets |website=Birdguides.com| date=18 October 2019 }}

According to a 2020 study in Korea, the larvae of Vespa velutina could be a potential food source,{{Cite journal |last1=Jeong |first1=Hyeyoon |last2=Kim |first2=Ja Min |last3=Kim |first3=Beomsu |last4=Nam |first4=Ju-Ock |last5=Hahn |first5=Dongyup |last6=Choi |first6=Moon Bo |date=July 2020 |title=Nutritional Value of the Larvae of the Alien Invasive Wasp Vespa velutina nigrithorax and Amino Acid Composition of the Larval Saliva |journal=Foods |language=en |volume=9 |issue=7 |pages=885 |doi=10.3390/foods9070885 |issn=2304-8158 |pmc=7404655 |pmid=32640612 |doi-access=free }} similar to the larvae of the Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), which are a Japanese delicacy.{{cite book |last=Piper |first=Ross |url=https://archive.org/details/extraordinaryani0000pipe |title=Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-33922-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/extraordinaryani0000pipe/page/9 9–11] |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |url-access=registration}}

File:Vespa velutina up.JPG|V. velutina - usual color variant, dorsal aspect

File:Vespa velutina side.jpg|V. velutina - usual color variant, lateral aspect

File:Vespa velutina MHNT.jpg|V. velutina color form nigrithorax, dark color variant - Toulouse

File:Sarang Tebuan Haji.JPG|Nest of V. velutina about 30 feet up on a durian tree in Malaysia

File:Vespa velutina nigrithorax MHNT dos.jpg|Mounted specimen

File:Vespa Veutina - Filippo Turetta.jpg|Female of V. velutina, private collection, F. Turetta

File:Pola segi enam pada sarang lebah tabuhan 1.jpg|Nest of V. velutina hexagonal pattern

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikispecies}}

• [http://www.nonnativespecies.org/alerts/index.cfm NNSS website for reporting sightings in Great Britain]
• [https://vespawatch.be/ Asian hornet reporting center for Flanders (Belgium)]
• [https://waarneming.nl/go/vespa-velutina/ Asian hornet reporting center for the Netherlands ]
• {{Observation.org taxon}}

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{{Authority control}}

Category:Vespidae

Category:Hymenoptera of Asia

Category:Hymenoptera of Europe