Is the hornet dangerous? Where hornets hibernate and diet in winter

When you see something flying above you, you think: “What has technology come to, have drones really become so tiny!” And it becomes scary when you realize that it is huge.

Remember, Maria Semenova in "Wolfhound" from the lips of Ermintar the words sounded: “The hornet claws - I itch for a week”? How right it sounds! does not bite - he stings, how, how he can sting.

They can be located in different places: in hollows of trees, sometimes in, even beehives, often in old abandoned wooden ones. And they do not turn away from new modern buildings with balconies, although they may well be satisfied with depressions under the roots and even places under heaps of deadwood.

What do hornets and their larvae eat?

Adults are content with the pollen of flowers, nectar, they love mature ones and sometimes spoil them. The bark of young twigs is also to their taste. They can harm apiaries if they are next to.

Such a diet is not suitable for larvae; they need animal protein for growth and development. For them, adults catch large ones and, even smaller ones, chew them, creating minced meat from. This is food for the larvae, and they, in turn, are very polite, and treat the adult generation with sweets, which are released in the form of droplets. And they love sweets.

The order of family life in hornets

Interchangeability is the motto. All individuals are able to perform any work "at home" and do what is necessary. And they fly alone for food.

Types of hornets

common hornet (Vespa crabro) is the largest, lives more often in the forest. It is usually active during the day, although it can perform work at night. Habitats - the entire European part of the country, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Far East.

Oriental hornet (Vespa Orientalis) although he lives quite secretly in buildings, he is a frequenter of bazaars and "canteens": places where food is usually prepared. Here their thievery is manifested (as people tend to think), such a hornet is quite capable of carrying away small pieces of meat and even food. Can get food in the landfills where they are stored food waste. He is not particularly aggressive, but defends with a large army.

Asian giant hornet (vespa tangerine) is the largest (up to five centimeters long) and the most aggressive. It is dangerous to people and animals.

Hornet Dybowski (vespa dybowskii) is aggressive, does not like the presence of a person nearby, attacks to escort the alien. This hornet can pick up the dead for minced meat, even take body parts from fallen animals.

Real aggressiveness

Fear always has big eyes. Hornets rarely sting people, only when real threat. Therefore, when you see it, you don’t have to wave your arms, drive it away. It is enough just to wait until this helicopter flies away. You need to be careful, inspect your buildings well, look for

Hornets are called public wasps. These insects are the largest representatives of the wasp family, live in colonies. The hornet is a predatory insect with a reusable sting and poison.

Appearances can be deceiving

The hornet can easily be confused with a wasp, or with some species of striped flies that live in abandoned hornet nests. This phenomenon is called mimicry. The coloring of the hornet is bright - brown with orange or yellow stripes. These colors are undoubtedly striking, "shouting" that an attack on an insect promises danger.

Hornet - winged predator

Where can you find hornets

Hornets can be found in many places. And the groups cover numerical ranges in Europe, North Africa, Asia and North America.

"Winged Predators"

In addition to the fact that the diet of hornets is the sweet nectar of plants, other insects, such as wasps or bees, often fall into their menu. But the hornet itself is quite deservedly called the "winged predator". Decent size and high degree aggressiveness allow the hornet to attack even robber flies, which themselves are not averse to profiting from insects.

Hornet nests

Although hornets have a “reusable” sting, they rarely bite a person.

The hornet's nest is built from a kind of paper, which they get by nibbling the bark on young birch branches. That is why their paper, unlike paper of other types, is not gray, but brownish. Hornet "communal" can be found in hollows of trees, in caves, birdhouses, on steep slopes. At first, females build honeycombs from several cells facing downwards. As the family grows, the next ones are hung from the first cells, etc. Large nests can consist of 6 tiers, up to 0.5 m in diameter.

The construction of the nest in the spring begins with the uterus - the main female, which mates with the drones (males). She also lays eggs.

Hornet breeding

Only the uterus can lay eggs. After hatching from eggs, the larvae are fed by working individuals - infertile females. After catching the prey, the hornets return to the nest and feed the larvae with chewed prey. Soon the larvae turn into adult hornets.

Did you know that:

• After the first frost, all worker hornets, queens and males die.
• Fertilized females take refuge and hide in frost-protected places to overwinter. New nest building begins in the spring, and life cycle repeats again.
• Only working females and the uterus are armed with a sting. With one bite, insects are able to paralyze or kill the victim.
• Hornets, like wasps, have a straight and smooth sting, so they inflict repeated bites. The bee genus (except for the uterus), unlike the hornets, has a one-time sting.
• Hornets are much larger than wasps. Despite this, they are less likely to sting humans.
• Often, hornets make their nests under the roofs of residential buildings or other buildings, which, of course, can cause concern to residents, as insects make a terrible noise. And on the way to the nest, they often fly into the windows.
• Hornets only sting when they feel threatened. Therefore, if this insect approaches you, do not pay attention to it, do not wave your arms and do not try to drive it away.
• Hornets are very useful insects, as they destroy many pests, so they should be protected.

"Death Bite"

Why don't you hear about them! There are many frightening stories that hornet swarms attack animals and people, killing them with their bites. Fortunately, these stories are not true. Of course, a hornet can sting, but

The family of wasps gives a lot of trouble to humans. It also includes hymenoptera insects, the largest wasps on the planet - hornets (Vespa). To date, science knows 23 species of representatives of this family. They occupied all of Europe. In Russia, "winged robbers" feel good even in Siberia. Especially a lot of them in the Primorsky Territory. The largest populations of hornets are in the tropics of Asia, and there are many of them in the Moscow region.

Hornets are different: friendly and dangerous

The average weight of hornets is 2 g, and males are twice as small as females. Small transparent, like mica, wings cover the body. Vespa hymenoptera live for only a few months (males), and about 12 months for females. Before their death, the males fertilize the queens, they themselves die. Fertilized females, capable of producing offspring, fall into suspended animation, staying in it for the winter and waiting for the heat of May, when the air warms up to 10 degrees.

The "head of the family" is the uterus. This is a female capable of reproducing offspring. She is a vivid example of how hornets hibernate. If the males die with the onset of cold weather, then the female wasps find a quiet, warm place, to survive. spring months they spend in the troubles of arranging the nest, build honeycombs, take care of the larvae until mid-summer. When they grow up, they themselves become protectors and getters of food for the newly appeared larvae and uterus. A hornet colony, in which individuals live together for only a few months, consists of a “creator” - a uterus, working “horses” (hornets), young queens and males that do not have stingers.

Wasps small and wasps large

Hornets are predators. Often they are confused with ordinary wasps, not imagining what a hornet looks like. In fact, the size of the "striped robbers" is 2 times larger than wasps, although otherwise the similarity is great:

• the same expressive large eyes;
• powerful jaws and a sting - two types of defense and food extraction: they use a sting to hit the victim or tear it apart with powerful jaws.
• a striped body, as if constricted at the waist (only the wasp has a black and yellow color scheme, and the hornet has it also diluted with brown, orange).

On a note. Hornets, on the one hand, are undoubtedly useful. They are nurses of horticultural crops, protecting them from harmful insects. On the other hand, the hornet spoils the fruits, eats bees in evidence (one individual eats about 30 bees per day). If you show aggression towards the "pirates" or try to destroy the nest, the hornets that previously coexisted peacefully with you turn into real robbers, mercilessly stinging the enemy.

The most common types of hornets

In our country, you can mainly meet the common hornet (Vespa crabro). Habitat: Ural, European Russia, East China. The uterus of the insect is large, reaches 25-35 mm. The working wasp is smaller - 18-22 mm in size.

• A rare species of large wasps is the black hornet or Dybowski's hornet (Vespa dybowskii). The color of the abdomen is black, wings with a brownish tint. Similar in size to an ordinary "relative". We meet in Transbaikalia, in Primorye and on the Amur. Also "occupied" the territory of India, Japan, Korea and China. Known for the fact that the uterus "raises other people's children", killing the same individual of a colony of a different species and taking its place.
• Madagascar, North Africa, southern Russia, Asia - places where Vespa orientalis (eastern hornet) is found. This type of large wasp, the females of which reach 30 mm, is distinguished by a beautiful coloring in red-brown tones. Feels great in dry steppe and desert climates.
• Vespa mandarinia or Asian hornet (giant). It is considered the largest (body length up to 50 mm) and the most dangerous. Feature its coloring: wide black "paths" on the abdomen, contrasting with the yellow head. "Asian" lives in China, India, Japan. He flew to our Primorye. It releases a poison of high toxicity dangerous to humans in that it can lead to lethal outcome.

Hornet lifestyle

It is very interesting to watch how hornets live. Colonies live in hollows of trees, occupy empty bee hives, attics of houses. The house consists of horizontally molded honeycombs in the amount of 5-7 pieces. At the same time, up to half a thousand eggs are laid in each of them. The high organization of the life of large wasps allows them to protect their offspring and survive when attacked by an enemy. Special "guards" notify the rest of the relatives about the approach of danger, and the whole family rushes to the attack. The weapon of defense carries a toxic lesion, and in severe cases can be fatal.

Attention! A hornet bite in humans is characterized by painful sensations, causes allergic reactions, although the sting itself does not remain in the wound. This is partly due to the dose of poison introduced into the body. In some species of insects, it is about 2 mg. Compared to a bee sting, this is more than 2 times more. The severity of the bite is also affected by which subspecies of hornets made it. The most dangerous and toxic substance is the Asian hornet.

Spiders, mosquitoes, caterpillars, dragonflies, bees, flies, butterflies that live next to large wasps in nature are potential “applicants” to be eaten at one fine moment. Hornets lead a round-the-clock lifestyle. This explains that they catch nocturnal insects for food, as a result of which the daily "catch" whole family"Pirates" can reach up to half a kilogram of live food. For horticulture, caught pests in such a quantity are a significant help from huge wasps, which cannot be said about apiaries. Hornets catch bees, climb into the hive and feast on honey. The harm to beekeeping is enormous. A hornet unnoticed in time alone can ruin a bee family.

Interesting. It would be wrong to say that live food is consumed by adults. It is the larvae that need food from finely chewed insects for growth and development, while the adult hornet is content with the pollen of flowers, their nectar, as well as the ripe pulp and juice of fruits and vegetables. Feeding larvae themselves secrete a sweetish sticky substance, which feeds on worker wasps in adverse weather.

Hornets and man: a state of parity

Insects try to avoid humans. Never try to sit on food that is on the table. Wasps and bees immediately climb into the dishes, into his dwelling. This is another way to tell a bee from a hornet. In nature, the habitat of the hornets are forests. There, on young trees, especially ash trees, they peel off the skin to build nests. This causes the seedlings to dry out. But here the torn off pieces of young bark, hornet wood are moistened with saliva, processing into a pasty consistency. A nest is built from it (honeycombs and a shell), which by the end of summer reaches an impressive size and resembles corrugated paper. The appearance of the nests may vary in color due to the type of wood used.

Over time, under the influence of precipitation, the house collapses, because. does not resist moisture well. Therefore, tireless workers every year, without getting tired, mold new dwellings under the roofs of sheds and houses, forming them from top to bottom. In such houses, the main life of the uterus and larvae takes place. The products of their vital activity in the form of drops are released from the honeycombs.

No matter how "handsome" the hornets are, it is better to admire them from a distance. Therefore, noticing in the spring that the uterus begins to fuss and form a nest, you must immediately stop this by destroying the insect. If this moment is missed, learn to coexist peacefully with these interesting and nice "workaholics".

Hornet stings are among the most dangerous among insects. This is due to the peculiarity of the poison and its quantity (the hornet is a large insect).

Hornet is one of the most major representatives kind of wasps. This massive insect up to 55 mm in length is very dangerous. In fact, the hornet differs from the usual wasp only in the size of the crown of the head and a rounded abdomen. Like all members of the wasp genus, hornets build their paper nests. It is often possible to distinguish a hornet's nest from an ordinary wasp's nest by color. Since the hornets are accustomed to building nests from rotten stumps and birch branches, their so-called hive has a bright brown color, and the wasp's nest is distinguished by a cold gray tint. To build their nest, hornets choose a variety of hollows, attics and paths. These insects feed on flies, bees, wasps, mosquitoes and all smaller insects for themselves. Like all representatives of wasps, hornets are very fond of sweets. In addition to their smaller brothers, they feed on substances that contain a lot of sugar, such as bee honey.

How dangerous is the hornet and how bad the consequences can be

Many people, especially those living outside the city, are concerned about the question: “how dangerous is a hornet for a person?”. These insects occupy one of the first places in terms of danger and the degree of harm to the human body. The danger is its poison, which can affect both the tissues at the site of the sting, and the entire body as a whole. Representatives are especially dangerous tropical species hornets. Tropical hornets use deadly poison, besides, they are larger than European relatives and inject more poison when they bite. But do not think that the common European hornet is much safer. Its bite can also be fatal. Especially if the victim is a person who has a high sensitivity to insect poisons.

The poison of this insect is the most powerful among all insect poisons in principle. Therefore, you should not torment yourself with questions: “how dangerous is the hornet,” and by all means, contact with these insects should be avoided.

How poison works

As mentioned above, hornet venom is very dangerous. Let's take a closer look at how the bite of this insect affects a person.

The first thing a person begins to feel after a hornet bite is a sharp throbbing pain. The sting itself resembles a bee sting. Then a large swelling and inflammation appears at the site of the bite. Hornet venom destroys cells and walls of blood vessels. It is because of this that local hemorrhages occur, and sometimes, in especially rare cases, even extensive hematomas, suppuration and general complete poisoning of the body.

Moreover, severe headaches begin to torment the person, the heartbeat accelerates, the temperature rises and the head is spinning.

If the victim is attacked not by one, but by many insects at once, then this can even lead to death.

Sometimes, in order to save a person after a hornet bite, his fingers were amputated.

Is there any benefit from hornets

Most people are more concerned about how dangerous the hornet is and very few people are interested in whether there is any benefit from this insect.

By its nature, the hornet is a predator that destroys a large number of variety of harmful insects that it feeds on. Thus, he benefits. But not when they start building nests in apiaries. In such cases, they are terrible pests and killers of honey miners.

In order to get rid of the hornets that have chosen your site for their nest, it is important to strictly adhere to security measures.

To begin with, you should wear very tight protective clothing. Make sure that every part of your body is covered so that insects do not have a chance to sting you. Be sure to take care of a mask that will protect your face.

Then you need to choose the right time. Hornets are active and aggressive during the day, so it's best to deal with nests early in the morning or late in the evening. Due to the lower temperature, hornets are less active in the morning and evening. Then find some kind of stick or long pole and pick up the nest. Take it somewhere far away from your home.

Prevention measures against hornets

In order for these dangerous creatures you are not disturbed, it is necessary to adhere to some preventive measures.

Here are some of the most important rules prevention of hornets in your home:

1) Remove the food source. Hornets have very good memory, so they perfectly remember the places of food sources and visit them regularly. Uncleaned trash or leftover pet food is quite a temptation for these insects. Therefore, do not scatter garbage around the yard, store all leftover food in special sealed containers.

2) Change the landscape of your site. As mentioned above, hornets have a very good memory. They are able to remember everything down to the smallest detail. Therefore, if your territory previously had a nest of these dangerous insects, then try to change it as soon as possible. appearance site. Remove a few branches, arrange some decorative elements in the yard, figurines, close up holes. Thus, you deceive the insects and make life easier for yourself.

3) Carefully destroy all traces. Remove all traces of previous nests. Remove all honey, wax, remnants of nests and other obvious signs of hornets. Then it is necessary to carefully treat all these places with a pesticide. Be careful during processing.

Hornet is pretty dangerous insect. Therefore, avoid contact with him. Be extremely careful and never let children near them.

Hornets love honey and attack bees, so you need to fight them. They first study the habits and characteristics of the insect: where it lives, what it eats. This will help to understand the behavior of pests.

Representatives of the genus of hornets are included in the family of Real wasps. Thanks to this, insects have a lot in common: body shape, stripes on the back, colors (yellow and black shades). Lifestyle, eating habits, behavioral characteristics also unite pests. However, there are a number of distinguishing features that characterize the hornets.

Types of hornets

There are quite a few insects that look like wasps. There are 23 species of hornets. They are found on different continents, which is due to the way of life. Some of the most notable representatives:

European, he is ordinary

It is characterized by medium size (up to 3.5 cm). Head, chest Brown, the lower part of the body is painted in black and yellow stripes. Like most insects of other species, the females of the large wasp are larger than the males.

The maximum body length is 3 cm, and females reach such sizes. Males are smaller, as are workers. Body color is brown. The oriental hornet stands out thanks to yellow spot on the head and two stripes of the same color on the lower body.

Asian, the most gigantic and dangerous

It is called giant because of its large size. The body length is 6 cm, the wingspan is a quarter larger than the body size. The back is painted with yellow-black stripes, the head is also bright yellow.

black look

Black hornet (Dybowski). The body length is up to 3.5 cm, the color is predominantly black, only two yellow stripes are visible on the back. The wings are characterized by a brown tint with a transition to transparent edges.

Nutrition Features

Honey cannot be called the main food of insects, but they are happy to feast on it when they devastate the hives. What do hornets eat? The basis of the diet is insects: spiders, caterpillars, flies, mosquitoes, dragonflies and butterflies. The list includes bees. Hornets destroy hives not because of aggression, they do it if they are near the apiary while hunting for food.

Large pests are able to fly day and night. For this reason, nocturnal insects are also included in the diet. During the day, the hornet sometimes collects up to 0.5 kg of live food. Pests get insects for young offspring and the uterus. An adult consumes nectar, as well as pollen, fruits and berries. Representatives of some species (Asian pest) are attracted to meat and fish.

Where the hornet lives, bee colonies cannot feel safe either.

More about the breeding process

The start of the colony is laid by the female. Having finished wintering, she starts searching for a place for nesting, and then begins building the first combs. A young generation of insects emerge from the oviposition. The female searches for food and raises larvae.

This is how workers appear. Now they are responsible for finding and obtaining food for the young. Since then, the uterus has been engaged only in reproduction - it regularly lays eggs. All working individuals are females, they are sterile. Closer to autumn, adults begin to appear who are able to reproduce.

Lifespan

Females and males differ in appearance (body size), solve various problems, and in addition to that, insects live a certain amount of time. So, males appear closer to autumn only for fertilization, then immediately die. Working individuals live from 3 weeks to several months. Due to the lack of the ability to reproduce, they also die.

If the hornets continue to live in winter, then these are fertilized females. In the spring they will start building new nests. The main large wasp (womb) lives for about a year.

Where do insects live?

Representatives of the European hornet species are found in Europe, which means they can be seen in Russia. Eastern brothers live in the south of Russia, as well as in Asia and North Africa, in Madagascar. Given the large size and high level danger, you should find out where giant insects (Asian) live. Their homeland is Asia. So, pests are found on Far East, in India, China, Korea, Japan, etc. Representatives rare species black hornets live here. They can be found in the Far East of Russia, Korea, Japan, China, India.

The dwelling has honeycombs and chambers where the larvae grow. The size can reach a diameter of 70 cm, a height of up to 1 m.

To get a complete picture of the lifestyle of pests, you need to find out how hornets hibernate. A reliable shelter helps pests survive the cold. Old stumps work well for this purpose. Insects hide under the bark of trees, in deep crevices. Suitable places where hornets usually hibernate are the sheathing of a house or barn.

Families live in nests built by them. The nests look just like regular wasps, only much larger.

Life in a nest

The shape of the nest is constantly changing, because as the insects reproduce, they build honeycombs and chambers. Initially, the pest shelter resembles a pear. Then it increases in size and a change in shape occurs.

They feed most of the insects they catch to their larvae.

Only the uterus and the younger generation can live permanently in the nest. Workers are on the move and come here to spend the night.

Males live the least, from several days to several weeks. The queen lives for about 1 year. Working - about 3-4 weeks.

Interesting video:Hornets - Empire of Merciless Assassins

Who will survive the winter?

Despite the fact that the hornets are looking for secluded places for the winter, where they hide later for the entire period, cold climate only females can bear it. Males die at the end of autumn. The same outcome awaits females whose age has reached 1 year; not a single representative of the hornet genus is able to survive the winter twice. Young females are the only ones who stay for the winter. Individuals - "cleaners" and working insects also die in the fall.