Hornets (genus Vespa)

I'll add my photos. Taken in the Moscow region, in the vicinity of the village of Khripan, Ramenskoye district. Several times they flew into the light of a lamp set up for butterflies. They behaved calmly, there were no attempts to attack.

This post was edited by gumenuk - 25.02.2008 11: 37

Pictures:

A010321.jpg — (140.68к)


DSC03555.jpg — (133.3к)


DSC03991.jpg — (143.8к)


DSC07836.jpg — (155.01к)

Wonderful!
On what lens, if not a secret?

Wonderful!
On what lens, if not a secret?

Photo
Taken by Sony A-100, Sigma 75-300 lens with macro lens DCR-150

In a word-Quality!!!

My photos are more modest, but I'll post them here with a little background.
Vespo Crabo hornet. 3-4 cm.
As far as I understand, the uterus. I took photos at the end of May of this year on one of the islands located on Lake Vuoksa (Leningrad region). The island was small, so most likely the same hornet was observed in different places in search of a place for a future nest (again, as far as I understood). The uterus searched cavities in trees. I decided to spend the night in one of these cavities (we, i.e. hikers, were always nearby, so we saw when the hornet flew into the "nest", and when it flew out and circled nearby).

In general, such a terrible joke. We were with friends on a hike, and when they told me that a hornet had arrived, I was already speechless (for I have long dreamed of photographing this creature). I rushed to change the lens to the one where there is a "so-so macro" and began to take pictures. Approaching closer and closer, apparently, the hornet scared off, as the latter constantly flew away, made circles around the tree, and then sat down again on it, in search of new cavities for the nest. My hands were shaking, basically. But the first experience of shooting these animals is, of course, not a bumblebee that sits peacefully on a flower and collects its pollen.

Since we often go to those places on a hike, then I will probably take more photos soon, and even better and closer. The main thing is not to be afraid=)

Pictures:

vespa_3.jpg — (192.05к)


vespa_4.jpg — (135.63к)

I decided to add to this topic.
After all, the male V. crabro wasn't here yet.
Caught: 18.09.2002 Here: M. O. Balashikha district, Zheleznodorozhny district (crawling along a field road).

Pictures:

Male.jpg — (114.87к)

And for comparison, a working individual (of course, a female). Unlike the male, it has 6 visible segments of the abdomen, a stinger and shorter antennae.
Caught: 30.05.2000г. Here: M. O. Balashikha district, Zheleznodorozhny district (forest edge, in years).

Pictures:

Female.jpg — (112.69к)

Dear forumchane! Let me bring to your attention a selection of Far Eastern hornets, photos of which I took in September 2008 in Bychikha (Bolshekhekhtsirsky Reserve near Khabarovsk). In the first photo, the most common Far Eastern small or similar hornet is Vespa simillima.

Pictures:

Vespa_simillima_Khekhtsyr.jpg — (184.26к)

This is one of the most obscure hornets - Vespa analis. It is widespread from Southern Primorye to the Jewish Autonomous Region and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. A characteristic feature of the species is the yellow apex of the abdomen.

Pictures:

Vespa_analis_Khekhtsyr.jpg — (223.03к)

And this is the tropical hornet Vespa ducalis, formerly known as Vespa tropica. It is found from Southern Primorye to Khabarovsk and the south-east of the Amur Region. The apex of its abdomen is black. This is one of the most beautiful hornets. This male was photographed at a watering hole.

Pictures:

Vespa_ducalis_Khekhtsyr.jpg — (298.23к)

This is the most unusual hornet-the social parasite Dybowski's hornet Vespa dybowskii, or black hornet. The queen takes over the nests of Vespa crabro or V. simillima, and in the fall you can find nests with two types of workers. I myself saw such a nest in Priargunye in the Chita region in 1995. Also photographed at a watering hole.

Pictures:

Vespa_dybowskii_Khekhtsyr.jpg — (259.89к)

Now - an image of the largest and most dangerous hornet in our country - the big-headed, or giant Vespa mandarinia. Several films that have been shown on our TV in recent years have been dedicated to this hornet. About 50 people die every year in Japan alone from the attacks of these hornets! Even tens of times more than from bears or venomous snakes (of course, this is data for Japan). In Russia, this species is found from Southern Primorye to Khabarovsk and the Jewish Autonomous Region.

Pictures:

Vespa_mandarinia_Khekhtsyr.jpg — (174.43к)

The last photo is the rarest hornet Vespa binghami. It has very large eyes: the distance from the eye to the compound eye is LESS than the diameter of the eye. This is clearly visible in the photo. It is found from Southern Primorye north to Khabarovsk.

Pictures:

Vespa_binghami_Khekhtsyr.jpg — (163.95к)

Thanks for the photos. I envy you how many hornets there are...

Yes, Far Eastern hornets are very diverse. For a long time, almost all of them were known only from Southern Primorye (judging by Kurzenko's 1995 identification number). And only in recent years it was possible to find out the distribution of many of them.

First, in 1995, we managed to find the black hornet Vespa dybowskii in the very east of the Chita region in the border oak forests along the Argun River: then we were lucky to find a nest from the hole of which individuals of the common hornet Vespa crabro flew out, but there were more individuals of the black hornet. What was my surprise that this species was described from Eastern Siberia! It was collected for the first time by the expedition of Dybovsky and Yankovsky, who went by boat from the Shilki River to Khabarovsk, and then up the Ussuri. Of course, the black hornet lives almost all along the route. The exact location, unfortunately, was never specified in the description, only: Eastern Siberia. As a very rare species, the black hornet is included in the Red Book of the Chita region. In the Amur region, all the finds of this species are also isolated (but it is distributed to the north even as far as the Zeya Nature Reserve, where it was found last year), but here it is not protected. In the south of the Khabarovsk Territory, this species is found up to the mouth of the Amur, but below Khabarovsk, it is very rare everywhere. And in the vicinity of Khabarovsk, it is not common every year. There was a lot of it only in the most" sheshri " year - in 2008. In general, in the Southern Primorye region, it is quite common.

The most common Far Eastern hornet Vespa simillima is already somewhat widespread. It was only at the very end of the XX century that it was found in the Amur region west to Blagoveshchensk (and last year-even in the Zeysky Reserve!), and in recent years - along the entire length of the Amur River below Khabarovsk up to the mouth of the Amur. Interestingly, in some places near Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, it is even more common than the common Vespa crabro! Both near Khabarovsk and in Primorye in the second half of summer - this is the most common view. But in the first half of summer, for some reason, Vespa crabro prevails there. These three types of hornets are the most common in the south of the Russian Far East.

I offer two photos of Vespa simillima at a watering hole in a muddy puddle, also taken in the" shershinny " year in Bychikha (Bolshekhekhtsirsky Reserve near Khabarovsk).

This post was edited by vvdubatolov - 28.03.2010 06: 11

Pictures:

Vespa_simillina_in_nature1.jpg — (172.41к)


Vespa_simillima_in_nature_2.jpg — (284.96к)

I'm sorry - I forgot to give you a photo of an ordinary hornet from the Bolshekhekhtsirsky Nature Reserve. He was photographed at a watering hole along with other species of hornets. Please pay attention to the red color on the chest - this is a characteristic feature of both Far Eastern and European individuals. But in Siberia, there is an ordinary hornet with a completely black breast. Does anyone have photos of such hornets in nature? It would be interesting to post photos of hornets from different places in our country on the site.

Pictures:

Vespa_crabro_Khekhtsyr.jpg — (205.93к)

Guest from North Africa:
Eastern hornet: Vespa orientalis Linnaeus, 1771.
Many thanks to Alex (u) 2611 for the definition.
Egypt, Nile Delta. Apparently, a very common species there (people who are very far from entomology constantly bring it to me).

Pictures:

V_orientalis.jpg — (116.81к)

The eastern hornet Vespa orientalis is widespread and quite numerous in Central Asia up to Southern Kazakhstan. Below I offer a map of the distribution of this species in Kyrgyzstan and its surroundings. It is also found in Eastern Transcaucasia-in Armenia and Azerbaijan. So far, I haven't seen any individuals from Russia, although I don't rule out that someone will find this species in Southern Dagestan.

Pictures:

Vespa_orientalis_map_Kyrghyzstan.jpg — (35.77к)

I also suggest a map of the distribution of the common hornet Vespa crabro in the Asian part of Russia. So far, I do not know if anyone has seen hornets near Lake Baikal. Has anyone seen it?

I'm sorry, I inserted the old card first. Here's a new one.

Pictures:

Fig09_crabro.gif — (17.38к)

I offer a funny (but not very interesting for me) story about hornets. I almost always had the habit of breaking old rotten stumps on expeditions in search of something interesting. In September 1985, I worked on an expedition near Vladivostok. With one of my friends and my laboratory assistant, we once went to the forest (I remember it was somewhere in the vicinity of Sedanka), my friend needed to pick actinidia berries. As a result, they scattered through a fairly dense forest. And here I go out on a tiny clearing (no more than 10 meters in diameter) on a more or less steep slope and see in its center a good rotten stump. I creep up on him, break the tree stump, and start walking.... I see a hornet's nest torn in half! As far as I can remember now (after all, I was still alive), it was Vespa simillima - not the most aggressive species. The last thing that stuck in my mind was the broken honeycomb, and on them - many dozens of hornets.... In seconds, I flew down the slope into the dense forest, and only there could I catch my breath. When the courage returned to me, I tried to get as close as possible to the clearing to see (well, isn't it stupid?) what's going on there. As soon as the clearing became visible through the gaps between the trees (in September, in the Southern Primorye region, trees do not shed their leaves yet), I stopped. The entire clearing was filled with a huge number of buzzing hornets. But they didn't fly into the forest - that's what saved me. Of course, I didn't go any further - life is more expensive. Then he began to walk away from this terrible place down the slope. That's the story.

This post was edited by vvdubatolov - 03/28/2010 12: 22

I also suggest a map of the distribution of the common hornet Vespa crabro in the Asian part of Russia. So far, I do not know if anyone has seen hornets near Lake Baikal. Has anyone seen it?

I do not know how far the Lake Baikal basin is, but it is 60 km away. south of Chita, the Ingoda River basin in 1984.
while serving in the army, I observed it (or something similar). A long time ago it was

Many thanks for the information about the neighborhood of Chita. Indeed, this species exists in the Chita region, but the westernmost point east of Lake Baikal is Chita. Yours is the second one. But in Buryatia or the Irkutsk region, has anyone seen hornets?

Giant hornet from Vietnam. By site http://vespa-bicolor.net I identified it as Vespa soror, found in Southern China, Vietnam, and Northern Thailand (if I was wrong, please correct me).
The specimen shown in the photo was caught at the end of November 2008 in Central Vietnam (Ba Ma). Its body length is 35 mm, and its wingspan is 73 mm (!).
The same website says that it is probably the second largest hornet after Vespa mandarinia.

Pictures:

Vespa_soror.jpg — (147.95к)

We have already posted photos of this species in nature. I decided to add a photo of the straightened copy. A real monster, the largest hornet in the world – Vespa mandarinia!
Caught in the Khasansky district of Primorsky Krai in July 2009. Body length 37 mm, wingspan 70 mm.

This post was edited by Ekos - 28.03.2010 16: 04

Pictures:

Vespa_mandarinia.jpg — (163.82к)

Hornets from the vicinity of Volgograd.

Pictures:

Vespa_crabro.jpg — (261.5к)


Vespa_crabro8.jpg — (251.06к)

I post a photo of Vespa mandarinia (left) and V. soror (right) to show their size in comparison with the common hornet V. crabro from Khabarovsk (center). Body length of V. crabro is 28 mm, wingspan is 49 mm (large specimen).

Pictures:

mandarinia__crabro___soror.JPG — (111.5к)

I keep wondering: what are those three black dots on the hornets ' foreheads?

I keep wondering: what are those three black dots on the hornets ' foreheads?

These are 3 extra eyes:

My favorite insect!I catch in the fall by kilograms in the light.I keep it in a bucket of water for a couple of days and in a compost pit.
Observing the hornet, I found that he was the first to bite into the ripe grapes,and after him a horde of wasps began to eat further.
In short, I'm fighting this insect....
(during the night in late summer-early autumn ,50-60 hornets fly to Ilyich's light bulb,60 W).

crabro, dybovskii, and tropica:



The first two are Blagoveshchensk, the last one is from Kundur, which is near the Khingan Nature Reserve.

crabro, dybovskii, and tropica:



The first two are Blagoveshchensk, the last one is from Kundur, which is near the Khingan Nature Reserve.

The first one doesn't sting...

crabro, dybovskii, and tropica:


The first two are Blagoveshchensk, the last one is from Kundur, which is near the Khingan Nature Reserve.

which one is tropica? My Thai and Indonesian Vespa tropica with black belly except for the bright orange second tergite (and sternite)

"...a powerful weapon that hits exactly the target."
crabro, MO, Istra district



This post was edited by Dr. Niko - 05/22/2012 18: 41

"...a powerful weapon that hits exactly the target."
crabro, MO, Istra district

We have a lot of them especially this year. Today, one flew right into the apartment: I wanted to catch it alive on the occasion for a person, but I didn't have time : he turned around the room and found the exit himself.

South Asia, 30 mm., Vespa sp.. Maybe ducalis?

If it wasn't rolled up in a plastic brick, it would be possible to talk about the form. And so even for a kilometer here entomology does not smell.... Namesake, my advice to you: get busy at last. Especially now the season in Moscow: know yourself catch

Indeed, this species exists in the Chita region, but the westernmost point east of Lake Baikal is Chita. Yours is the second one. But in Buryatia or the Irkutsk region, has anyone seen hornets?

Yes, there is near Irkutsk - one specimen was caught by Oleg Berlov
and even pinned down as an" exotic " insect for us.

see what kind of hornet and hornet is it ? it flies to the attic, nibbles on logs. all black, wings dark blue with a tint. more like a big fat bee. about three centimeters long.

Pictures:

P5134803.jpg — (143.45к)


P5134802_____________.JPG — (117.94к)