Asian giant hornet
Scale bar is 5 millimetres
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hymenoptera Family: Vespidae Genus: Vespa Species: V. mandarinia
Binomial name
Vespa mandarinia Smith, 1852

For general information see hornet, and the related European hornet.

The Asian giant hornet Vespa mandarinia, known colloquially as the Yak Killer Hornet, is the world's largest hornet, native to temperate and tropical Eastern Asia. Its body length is approximately 50.8 mm (2.0 in), with a wingspan of about 76 mm (3 in).^{[citation needed]} Queens may reach a length of 55 mm (2.2 in).^{[citation needed]} Due to its size, it is known in Japan as Suzume-Bachi or Sparrow-Bee. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 718 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (862 × 720 pixel, file size: 393 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Asian giant hornet ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Scientific classification redirects here. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Archaeognatha (bristletails) Thysanura (silverfish) Subclass Pterygota Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic) Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Superorder Exopterygota Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Embioptera (webspinners) Zoraptera (angel insects) Dermaptera (earwigs) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc) Phasmatodea (stick insects) Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Psocoptera... Suborders Apocrita Symphyta Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. ... Genera The vespids are a family of wasps, including all social wasps and some solitary wasps. ... This article refers collectively to all true hornets. ... Latin name redirects here. ... Frederick Smith (1805 - 1879) was a British entomologist. ... This article refers collectively to all true hornets. ... Binomial name Vespa crabro L., 1761 For main article see hornet. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes, ″ - a double prime) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ...

Anatomy

The head of the hornet is orange and quite wide in comparison to other hornet species. The compound eyes and ocelli are dark brown, and the antennae are dark brown with orange scapes. The clypeus (the shield-like plate on the front of the head) is orange and coarsely punctured; the posterior side of the clypeus has narrow, rounded lobes. The mandible is large and orange with a black tooth (inner biting surface). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1900x1820, 522 KB) Summary Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... For other uses of the word head, see head (disambiguation). ... This article refers collectively to all true hornets. ... Compound eye of a dragonfly A compound eye is a visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. ... An ocellus (plural: ocelli) is a type of photoreceptor organ in animals. ... Insects display a wide variety of antennal shapes. ... Look up scape in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In the military of classical antiquity, a clipeus (ἀσπίς) was a large shield worn by the Greeks and Romans as a piece of defensive armor, which they carried upon the arm, to secure them from the blows of their enemies. ... The mandible (from Latin mandibŭla, jawbone) or inferior maxillary bone is, together with the maxilla, the largest and strongest bone of the face. ...

The thorax and propodeum (the segment which forms the posterior part of the thorax) of the Asian giant hornet has a distinctive golden tint and a large scutellum (a shield-like scale on the thorax) that has a deeply-impressed medial line; the postscutellum (the plate behind the scutellum) bulges and overhangs the propodeum. The hornet's forelegs are orange with dark brown tarsi (the distal - furthest down - part of the leg); the midlegs and hindlegs are dark brown. Wings are a dark brownish-gray. The tegulae are brown. Diagram of a tsetse fly, showing the head, thorax and abdomen The thorax is a division of an animals body that lies between the head and the abdomen. ... The propodeum is the first abdominal segment in Apocrita Hymenoptera (wasps, bees and ants). ... The English word POSTERIOR is identical to the original Latin adjective, and has two different uses : as an ADJECTIVE, it indicates that someone or something is behind another, either spatially or chronologically it also became a SUBSTANTIVE, indicating the rear-end, especially of a person, i. ... The scutellum is the posterior portion of either the mesonotum or the metanotum of an insect thorax; however, it is used almost exclusively in the former context, as the metanotum is rather reduced in most insect groups. ... For the meaning of medial in anatomy, see anatomical terms of location. ... A forelimb is an anterior limb on an animals body. ... An insect leg The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. ... In zootomy, several terms are used to describe the location of organs and other structures in the body of bilateral animals. ... Wing structure of a dragonfly (family Gomphidae) Insect wings are outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. ... A tegula is a small sclerite situated above the base of the costal vein in the wings of various insects such as Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Homoptera, and attached to the antero-lateral portion of the mesonotum. ...

The gaster (the portion of the abdomen behind the thorax-abdomen connection) is dark brown with a white, powdery covering; with narrow yellow bands at the posterior margins of the tergite, the sixth segment is entirely yellow. Theodor Herzl Gaster (1906 - 1992) was an American Biblical scholar known for work on comparative religion, mythology and the history of religions. ... Diagram of a tsetse fly, showing the head, thorax and abdomen The thorax is a division of an animals body that lies between the head and the abdomen. ... The abdomen in a human and an ant. ...

Geographic distribution

It can be found in Primorsky Krai, Korea, China, Taiwan (where it is called the "tiger bee"), Indochina, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, but is most common in mountainous areas of Japan (where it is called suzumebachi スズメバチ, or the "sparrow bee"). One has been spotted in Perquimans County, North Carolina on April 24, 2008. There have been a few reports in Maryland including Clarksville and Glen Arm. For other uses, see Primorsky. ... This article is about the Korean civilization. ... Indochina 1886 Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. ... For other uses, see Mountain (disambiguation). ... Perquimans County is a county located in the state of North Carolina. ...

The Asian giant hornet

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Sting

The stinger of the Asian giant hornet is about 6 mm (¼ in) in length,^[1] and injects an especially potent venom that contains, like many bee and wasp venoms, a cytolytic peptide (specifically, a mastoparan) that can damage tissue by stimulating phospholipase action,^[2] in addition to its own intrinsic phospholipase.^[3] Masato Ono, an entomologist at Tamagawa University near Tokyo, described the sensation as feeling "like a hot nail being driven into my leg."^[1]. For other uses, see Stinger (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Snake poison be merged into this article or section. ... Cytolysis is the lysis, or death, of cells due to the rupture of the cell membrane. ... Peptides (from the Greek πεπτος, digestible), are the family of short molecules formed from the linking, in a defined order, of various α-amino acids. ... Phospholipases A2 (PLA2s) (PDB 1CJY, EC 3. ... Entomology is the scientific study of insects. ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ...

An allergic human stung by the giant hornet may die from an allergic reaction to the venom; but the venom contains a neurotoxin called mandaratoxin^[4] which can be lethal to people who are not allergic if the dose is sufficient. About 70 people die each year in Japan after being stung by giant hornets.^[5] Pancreatitus can be caused by an Allergic Reaction to a food. ... A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells – neurons – usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels. ...

A few interesting notes on Vespa mandarinia's venom and stinger:

• The venom contains at least eight distinct chemicals, some of which damage tissue, some of which cause pain, and at least one which has an odor that attracts more hornets to the victim.
• The venom contains 5% acetylcholine, a greater concentration than is present in bee or other wasp venoms. Acetylcholine stimulates the pain nerve fibres, intensifying the pain of the sting.
• Vespa mandarinia uses its large crushing mandibles, rather than its sting, to kill prey.
• The venom of the Asian giant hornet is more toxic than that of most other bees or wasps, giving this species one of the greatest lethal capacities per colony.
• The enzyme in the venom is so strong that it can dissolve human tissue.
• Like all hornets, V. mandarinia has a barbless stinger, allowing it to sting repeatedly.

The chemical compound acetylcholine, often abbreviated as ACh, was the first neurotransmitter to be identified. ...

Predation

The Asian giant hornet is a relentless hunter that preys on other large insects such as bees, other hornet species, and praying mantises. Orders Subclass Apterygota Symphypleona - globular springtails Subclass Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) Subclass Dicondylia Monura - extinct Thysanura (common bristletails) Subclass Pterygota Diaphanopteroidea - extinct Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Blattodea (cockroaches) Mantodea (mantids) Isoptera (termites) Zoraptera Grylloblattodea Dermaptera (earwigs) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets... For other uses, see Western honey bee and Bee (disambiguation). ... A praying mantis, or praying mantid, is the common name for an insect of the order Mantodea. ...

An Asian giant hornet feeding on a praying mantis.

The hornets often attack honey bee hives with the goal of obtaining the honey bee larvae. A single scout, sometimes two or three, will cautiously approach the nest, giving off pheromones which will lead the other hornets to the hive's location. The honeybee is a colonial insect that is often maintained, fed, and transported by farmers. ... Larvae are the plural of larva, juvenile form of animals with indirect development. ...

The hornets can devastate a colony of honey bees: a single hornet can kill as many as 40 honey bees per minute thanks to their large mandibles which can quickly strike and decapitate a bee. It takes only a few of these hornets a few hours to exterminate the population of a 30,000-member hive, leaving a trail of severed insect heads and limbs. The European honey bees Apis mellifera have small stings which do little damage to hornets that are three times their size and twenty times their weight. The honey bees make futile solo attacks without mounting a collective defense, and are easily killed individually by the hornets. Once a hive is emptied of all defending bees, the hornets feed on the honey and carry the larvae back to feed to their own larvae. The hornets can fly up to 60 miles (95 km) in a single day, at speeds up to 25 mph or 40 km/h.^[6] Binomial name Apis mellifera The species called Western honeybees (Apis mellifera) are honeybees comprised of several subspecies or races. ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ...

Adult hornets cannot digest solid protein, so the hornets do not eat their prey, but chew them into a paste and feed them to their larvae. The larvae produce a clear liquid, recently named vespa amino acid mixture, which the adults consume; larvae of social Vespidae produce these secretions, the exact amino acid composition varying considerably among species.^[7] The passing of nutrition to adult wasps by larvae is widespread in these wasps, and not restricted to the genus Vespa. Genera The vespids are a family of wasps, including all social wasps and some solitary wasps. ... This article refers collectively to all true hornets. ...

Native honey bees

Japanese honey bees (Apis cerana japonica) forming a "bee ball" in which two hornets (Vespa simillima xanthoptera) are engulfed and being heated.

Although a handful of Asian giant hornets can easily defeat the defenses of many individual honey bees, whose small stings cannot inflict much damage against such a large predator, the Japanese honey bee (Apis cerana japonica) has evolved a collective defence. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1136x852, 239 KB) jp: ニホンミツバチの蜂球。内部にはキイロスズメバチがいる。2005年7月30日投稿者が横浜市内にて撮影 File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Honey bee Asian giant hornet Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1136x852, 239 KB) jp: ニホンミツバチの蜂球。内部にはキイロスズメバチがいる。2005年7月30日投稿者が横浜市内にて撮影 File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Honey bee Asian giant hornet Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from... Binomial name Fabricius, 1793 Apis cerana, or the Asiatic honey bee (or the Eastern honey bee), are small honey bees of southern and southeastern Asia, such as China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea. ... Binomial name Fabricius, 1793 Apis cerana, or the Asiatic honey bee (or the Eastern honey bee), are small honey bees of southern and southeastern Asia, such as China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea. ...

When a hornet scout locates and approaches a Japanese honey bee hive it will emit specific pheromonal hunting signals. When the honey bees detect these pheromones, a hundred or so will gather near the entrance of the nest and keep it open, apparently to draw the hornet further into the hive or allow it to enter on its own. As the hornet enters the nest, a large mob of about five hundred honey bees surrounds it, completely covering it and preventing it from moving, and begin quickly vibrating their flight muscles. This has the effect of raising the temperature of the honey bee mass to 47 °C (117 °F). The honey bees can just tolerate this temperature, but the hornets cannot survive more than 45 °C (113 °F), and die. Often several bees perish along with the intruder, but the death of the hornet scout prevents it from bringing reinforcements which could wipe out the colony.^[8]

Life Cycle

See Hornet#Life_cycle This article refers collectively to all true hornets. ...

The hornet and the Japanese diet

In Japan's mountain villages, the larvae and pupae of hornets are valued as a delicacy. They are eaten deep fried or as a kind of hornet sashimi. Assorted sashimi Sashimi (Japanese: ) is a Japanese delicacy primarily consisting of very fresh raw seafoods, thinly sliced into pieces about 2. ...

Hornet supplement manufacturers

Recently several companies in Asia and Europe have begun to manufacture dietary supplements and energy drinks which contain synthetic versions of secretions of the larvae of Vespa mandarinia, which the adult hornets usually consume. The manufacturers of these products make claims that consuming the larval hornet secretions (marketed as "hornet juice") will enhance human endurance because of the effect it has on adult hornets' performance. A dietary supplement is intended to supply nutrients, (vitamins, minerals, fatty acids or amino acids) that are missing or not consumed in sufficient quantity in a persons diet. ... Energy drinks are beverages which contain legal stimulants, vitamins, and minerals, including caffeine, guarana, taurine, various forms of ginseng, maltodextrin, carnitine, creatine, and ginkgo biloba. ...

According to Vaam, one such supplement, "Diet Amino" is composed of: Maltodextrin, Betacarotene, Amino Acids (Proline, Lysine, Leucine, Valine, Isoleucine, Alanine), Vitamin E, Vitamin B1, Flavoring, Acidifier, Sweetener (Stevia, Sucrose)".^{[citation needed]} As supplements rather than pharmaceuticals, they do not have to prove their claims. However, some studies^[9][10] have suggested that the vespa amino acid mixture itself may influence animal performance in some way. Maltodextrin is a moderately sweet polysaccharide used as a food additive, unrelated to barley malt. ... Carotene is a terpene, an orange photosynthetic pigment, important for photosynthesis. ... In chemistry, an amino acid is any molecule that contains both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. ... Proline is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCH(NH[CH2)3]. L-Proline is one of the twenty DNA-encoded amino acids. ... Lysine is one of the 20 amino acids normally found in proteins. ... Leucine is one of the 20 most common amino acids and coded for by DNA. It is isomeric with isoleucine. ... Valine is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized by humans, so it is considered an essential amino acid for human life. ... Isoleucine is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCH(NH2)CH(CH3)CH2CH3. ... Alanine (Ala, A) also 2-aminopropanoic acid is a non-essential α-amino acid. ... Tocopherol, or Vitamin E, is a fat-soluble vitamin in eight forms that is an important antioxidant. ... Thiamine mononitrate Thiamine or thiamin, also known as vitamin B1, is a colorless compound with chemical formula C12H17ClN4OS. It is soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol. ... Flavouring (or flavoring) is a product which is added to food in order to change or augment its taste. ... These are inorganic chemicals used to produce or become acid. ... Species About 150 species, including: Stevia eupatoria Stevia ovata Stevia plummerae Stevia rebaudiana Stevia salicifolia Stevia serrata Stevia is a genus of about 150 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to subtropical and tropical South America and Central America. ... Flash point N/A Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 Â°C, 100 kPa) Infobox disclaimer and references Sucrose (common name: table sugar, also called saccharose) is a disaccharide (glucose + fructose) with the molecular formula C12H22O11. ...

Notes

Natural World (sometimes in the past titled Wildlife On One or Wildlife On Two) is a long-running BBC television series on natural history. ...

External links

• The Asian Giant Hornet
• Yellowjackets and hornets
• "Hornets From Hell", National Geographic News
• Heat Tolerance as a Weapon
• 30 Hornets Slaughtering 30,000 European Honey Bees - Video