HYMENOPTERA > APOCRITA | Aculeata > Vespidae > Vespinae

The hornet, easily recognisable with its distinctive chestnut-brown and yellow body, is our largest species of social wasp with workers averaging around 25mm long and the queens reaching 35mm. They have a relatively large head, which is yellow at the front with a chestnut patch towards the top, and a yellow clypeus. The thorax has no yellow markings and the pronotum is wholly dark chestnut. The abdomen is mostly yellow, but chestnut at the front, with variable black markings on S1 and S2, which are usually more extensive and darker in the queens.

The main habitat is woodland with mature trees where they will look to construct their nests in hollows or large cavities. Over-wintering queens usually start emerging in April and begin the process of initiating a new nest in May, with the first workers appearing a few weeks later. New queens and males will leave the nest around September or October, following which they will mate and disperse with the males dying soon after and newly-mated queens seeking their over-wintering hibernation site. Back at the nest, the old queen and the workers will end up dying out by November. And then, the following year the cycle will start again.

Hornets are often considered more ‘dangerous’ than common wasps, but they're actually quite docile in comparison and less likely to attack and sting unless they feel their nest is threatened.