The news media throughout the world has been buzzing with stories of huge deadly Asian hornets that are making their way across Asia and Europe, much like a B-movie from the 1970s. The most alarming aspect of these stinging insects is how severe and even life-threatening their stings can be when they bite. But did you realize that hornets are capable of so much more than just murdering humans?
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| 7 things you need to know about hornets |
If you are attempting to get rid of hornets or other stinging pests on your own, you should proceed with caution. If this is done incorrectly, you may be stung by the hornets or wasps that you are attempting to exterminate.
1. Gentle giants
They aren't as aggressive as you might think.
Not threatening at all.
It is common for hornets to only attack when they think their colony is in danger. Because this is mostly when someone or something is very near (the radius of this is usually 2-3m).
Outside of their nest, hornets have been known to be very docile. It has been said by some scientists that hornets are shy and peaceful. They try to avoid fights and only fight when they have to.
2. As for the difference between hornets and wasps, wasps are actually hornets.
Did you know hornets are a subgroup of wasps? Hornets, in particular, are a kind of wasp that lives in vast, well-run colonies.
Vespidae are the insects that include hornets. Yellow jackets, paper wasps, potter wasps, and pollen wasps are all members of this family, which also includes all of the hornet species.
This is a fun fact: Bald-faced hornets are not hornets at all, but wasps instead.
Wasps and hornets are distinguished by their size. Because hornets are so huge compared to wasps, this is one of the reasons they are so frightening, despite the fact that they are so timid. The color is also different. In contrast to wasps, hornets tend to be more orange and red in color, but this varies from species to species.
3. Hornets build their nests underground.
So where do hornets build their nests? There are different types of animals that have different needs.
Usually, hornets like to build their nests in places that are high. These aren't the only things:
- Attics
- Treetops
- Under the roofs:
- Decking \Sheds \Garages
- Hollow trunks of trees
- Those places that aren't on the ground.
Sometimes, hornet nests that are high up are free-hanging. They use a stalk called a petiole that attaches to the nearest object, such as a branch of a tree.
Herons live in the ground.
As well as high places, hornets are also known to build their nests in places that give them support and security. Sometimes, this can be old, abandoned rodent burrows that have been forgotten for a while.
Hornets that build their nests in the ground are a real threat to humans. They live in fields, gardens, and parks. In areas where a lot of people live, hornet's nests that are built in the ground run the risk of being stepped on by accident, causing the hornets to attack the unwitting person.
Natural pest controllers are number 4 on this list.
One of nature's pest-controllers is a horde of ants. Hornets have a taste for insects like aphids, which help rid the world of unwanted garden pests that harm resources in a farming setting.
Food: What do Hornets eat, and how do they get it?
Honey bees are known to be very good eaters, but they also eat a lot of sugar and protein.
- In the same way that other wasps love sweet things like fruit and fizzy drinks, hornets have a sweet tooth of their own.
- Tree sap is what hornets love to eat because it is sweet. They often use their mandibles to pull back the bark on trees to get to the sticky golden substance.
- Like other insects in the Vespidae group, their young live off protein that workers find in insects and other animals, which they bring back to their nests. They get a sweet syrup in return, which the adult bugs eat.
(5) Hornets love bees. They like to eat them!
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| Hornets love bees |
hornets love bees because they are one of their favorite things to eat. Even though they are rich in protein for their future queens, honey bees love them because they have a sweet and golden sugar that they love.
Over 5 times bigger than the European honey bees, the big bees can quickly wipe out an entire hive full of honey bees. They are so big and strong that one giant hornet can kill about 40 bees a minute.
Japanese honey bees, on the other hand, have come up with a clever way to keep these predators from destroying their colony. They attack her as soon as she starts to get near the hive. This way, she can't release any pheromones that would attract her team mates. A honey bee can't hurt or bite a hornet, so the bees swarm around the lone hornet, vibrating their bodies at a very high rate. The vibration from the bees makes the temperature soar, killing the hornet.
This method has evolved over hundreds of years. When giant hornets start to spread across the world, honey bees from the rest of the world don't know about this defense mechanism. This makes them easy prey for them.
6. Hornet bites can be dangerous because of the poison they contain
One thing that makes hornets so bad is that they can sting you. Even though the chances of getting stung by a hornet are very low, when they do decide to attack, it can be fatal.
Hornets are much bigger than other insects that sting, which makes their stings much more dangerous because they can hurt so much more. A lot of people think that the poison from hornets isn't that bad for them, but because they're so big, the amount of poison released by each sting could be dangerous. It takes more venom to be stung by a honey bee than any other insect.
The giant Asian Hornets are very big.
These huge stinging bugs are having a lot of fun right now. Japan is where the giant Asian hornet first came from, but it has quickly spread across Europe and the rest of the world. People shouldn't mess with these peaceful animals because they have long stingers and powerful venom that can do bad things to people's tissues and brains.
7. They are very tasty in Japan.
Hornets are a small part of the reason people go to the hospital in Japan, but that doesn't stop them from eating these predatory stinging insects as a meal. The larvae of hornets are a delicacy in many Japanese mountain villages. Hornets are a great source of protein because they can be deep fried or eaten raw, but they are also a good source of iron.
The next time you go to Pestaurant, do you want to try hornets?
Food that gives you a lot of energy
It's called vespa amino acid mixtures (VAAM) because it's sticky and sweet. It attracts workers and gives them energy. VAAM is also used in a popular Japanese energy drink that many people like to drink.
If red bull gives you wings, what would a hornet energy drink do for you, like giving you speed?