Asian giant hornet

species of insect

The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia)[1] including the color form called the Japanese giant hornet,[2][3] and its name commonly said in Mainstream media in the United States, the Murder hornet, is a hornet originally found in Asia. It is the largest hornet, and so is the largest social wasp. It is very dangerous and hard to get rid of because it is a very invasive species. It was reportedly found in the western United States for sometime, but now it is gone from there.[4][5][6][7]

Asian giant hornet
Temporal range: Miocene-present, 15.97–0 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae
Genus: Vespa
Species:
V. mandarinia
Binomial name
Vespa mandarinia
Smith, 1852

V. mandarinia is in the genus Vespa, which has every true hornet, including the Asian hornet and European hornet. There were originally subspecies, but it has been replaced by color forms,[8] there are 3 color forms known and are commonly classified as non-offcial subspecies, which is "japonica", "magnifica", and "nobilis".

References

change
  1. "Giant hornet gets new name". agr.wa.gov. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  2. Smith-Pardo, Allan H; Carpenter, James M.; Kimsey, Lynn; Hines, Heather (May 2020). "The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Vespinae), their importance and interceptions in the United States". Insect Systematics and Diversity. 4 (3). doi:10.1093/isd/ixaa006.
  3. Piper, Ross (2007). Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 9–11. ISBN 978-0-313-33922-6.
  4. BC Gov News: Asian Giant Hornet nest eradicated in Nanaimo.
  5. USDA New Pest Response Guidelines: Vespa mandarinia Asian giant hornet.
  6. "Hornets". Washington State Department of Agriculture.
  7. "WSDA News Releases". Washington State Department of Agriculture.
  8. Carpenter, James M. & Kojima, Jun-ichi (1997). "Checklist of the species in the subfamily Vespinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae)" (PDF). Natural History Bulletin of Ibaraki University. 1: 51–92.