Class: Insects
Size: 1.5 to 3.0cm
Weight: Variable
Age: 4 to 8 weeks (workers) or one year (queen)
Appearance: Yellow-black
Sexual dimorphism: Yes
Food: Fallen fruit, plant juices
Distribution: Asia, Europe, North America
Sleep-wake rhythm: Diurnal and nocturnal
Habitat: Forests, meadows
Natural enemies: Birds
Sexual maturity: September to October
Mating season: September to October
Social behaviour: A colony-forming insect
Threatened with extinction: Endangered

• A hornet’s nest usually contains a colony of between 300 and 600 animals.
• Contrary to their reputation, hornets are not particularly aggressive animals. Hornets only sting when they are attacked.
• There are three different types of hornets in a colony: workers (collecting food and feeding young conspecifics), drones (fertilising the hornet queen) and queens (laying eggs).
• Workers hatch from fertilised eggs, drones hatch from unfertilised eggs.
• Hornets build a new nest every year.
• The diet of a hornet depends on its stage of development. As a larva, the hornet is fed insects (egg white) by the workers. Adults like vegetable juice (carbohydrates).
• The hornet is protected in Germany. You cannot simply remove or destroy their nests. If the hornet’s nest is moved to a location that is unfavourable for the home, experts should be consulted.
• The yellow-black colour of the hornet serves as a warning. However, certain insectivorous birds (such as bee-eaters) cannot be stopped.
• The hornet regulates the temperature in the nest by flapping its wings. For the larvae to grow optimally in the nest, it needs a core temperature of 25 to 30°C.
• Hornets that hunt or forage away from their nest will only sting if they are squeezed. Otherwise they try to flee.
• In the Schmidt Sting Pain Index by the American entomologist Justin Orvel Schmidt, the sting of the hornet is 2.0, which is equivalent to the average wasp sting (Vespa) and bee sting pain. Unlike wasps, which usually attack humans in adverse environments and sting for no reason, hornet stings are rare, almost only when you accidentally approach their nests.
• Hornets do not eat sweet foods, so they are less likely to come into conflict with you at the coffee table than with other wasp species. However, they sometimes hunt other insects there, such as German and common wasps, which are easy prey due to their preoccupation with feeding. The hornet flies with its prey to a quieter place, dissects it and returns to its nest. Therefore, hornets can be tolerated as natural enemies of the annoying wasps and flies at the coffee table.