Where do hornets spend the winter? Read more about the reproduction process. Life in the nest

How nice it is to relax on the beautiful summer days fresh air! But, as Pushkin wrote, “Ah, red summer, I would love you if it were not for mosquitoes and flies” - a list of insects that poison us summer rest, we can continue: horse flies, wasps, hornets... Hornets, or vespa, are the largest type of wasps; their family includes more than twenty species. They live in almost all of Eurasia - they can be found in both Europe and Asia, there are many of them in the Urals, Siberia and the Primorsky Territory, no less in the western part of Russia, including the Moscow region.

How do hornets live?

Most often in Russia you can find the common hornet, vespa crabro. It is also called European. It is he who is often confused with the common wasp, without really thinking about who the hornet is. From the point of view of a zoologist, of course, this is a large wasp, which has its own characteristic features.

The common hornet is a frequent visitor to country houses and garden plots, where he likes to build his nests and get food - he loves fruits, nectar, honeydew, as well as insects, which are always abundant in such places. Almost all species live in families in nests, which are colonies in hollow trees or empty hives; they can also be found in attics. These are peculiar houses made of several cobbled together honeycombs, each of which contains at least 500 eggs. They are most often built from rotten tree bark using the saliva of these insects.

The dwellings are guarded by individuals who, when threatened, release pheromones that warn the swarm of danger. And then the whole family flies to protect their home.

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The life cycle of these insects lasts just over two months, and only the queen, the head of the swarm, lives for about a year. By autumn, the size of the family is reduced, the last individuals swarm and reproduce in September, after which the males die, fertilized females leave the nest in search of a place for wintering, and in the spring, after awakening, they begin to look for a new place for a new home. At the beginning of July, the larvae turn into working individuals and immediately begin to obtain food for the young and the queen, build and protect the nest. These are infertile females. By this time, the queen does nothing else but lay eggs. By the end of summer, queens capable of reproducing and male drones appear in the colony. They fertilize the females and the cycle begins again.

Read also: What products are used against wasps to repel them?

Types of hornets

In addition to the European one, common in Europe and Asia, other species are quite common in the world:

• Oriental,
• giant Asian,
• black.

Orientals are distinguished by a red-brown color, a wide yellow stripe on the abdomen and yellow spot on the head. They are found in southern Russia, Asia, North Africa and Madagascar - that is, in a dry climate. They nest on the ground. The queen of the eastern hornet reaches 30 mm, workers and drones are smaller.

The Asian is the largest, up to 66 mm with a wingspan of up to 75 mm. This species lives in India, Japan, Korea, China and the Primorsky Territory in Russia. It is the most dangerous - its poison contains much more toxins than its smaller relatives.

The black hornet looks like ordinary size, but outwardly differs from other species, as it has a completely black abdomen. This insect expels host queens from the nests of other hornet species and takes over the home. Distribution area: Korea, China, Japan, India, as well as Transbaikalia and Amur region in Russia.

Difference from wasps

Wasps and hornets, although they belong to the Hymenoptera, are still different insects that differ from each other:

• hornets are almost twice as large as wasps: working individuals reach 18–22 mm, the queen reaches 35–40 mm;
• the color of the wasp contains only black and yellow, the hornet also has brown and orange colors in your coloring book.

The yellow stripes on the wasp's abdomen are brighter than those of the hornet. There are also differences in the structure of the head and other parts of the body. Basically they are similar. These are striped predators, tied at the waist, with large eyes, powerful jaws and a sting. They either sting the victim or tear them apart with their jaws. They also sting people. The sting of the European hornet is quite painful, so it is considered to be dangerous to health. But in reality, it does not bite more often than bees or wasps.

Read also: First aid for a wasp sting. What will help against poison?

Hornets and wasps are not at all aggressive insects and do not attack first unless there is a reason for it. But if someone encroaches on their home, an attack is inevitable. They desperately defend their nests and attack in a swarm anyone who simply touches their home, even without the intention of destroying it. Hornets can also attack if someone tries to catch them. At first, the insect simply tries to fly away, but if it is caught and feels threatened, it will begin to sting, usually repeatedly.

Hornet stings and first aid

The bite of this insect is more painful than the bite of other stinging insects. The bite site not only hurts for a long time, but also turns red, swells, itches and burns. This is especially dangerous for allergy sufferers, since the poison contains substances that can provoke anaphylactic shock or Quincke's edema, which even leads to fatal outcome if medical assistance is not provided in time.

Intoxication from insect venom can lead to:

• dizziness,
• headache,
• nausea and vomiting,
• fever, chills,
• increased sweating.

In some cases, breathing becomes difficult, shortness of breath begins, and sometimes there are convulsions.

Consequences may be varying degrees severity, depending on what type and how many times it was bitten, how sensitive the person is to bites and how strong his immune system is. Children tolerate bites worse than adults.

First of all, it is necessary to examine the wound and remove the sting if it remains. It is better to do this with tweezers. Then you need to squeeze out the poison and wash the wound with soap. Then the bite site should be wiped with a solution of alcohol or potassium permanganate, apply cold to it and take an antihistamine.

If the victim's condition does not worsen, you do not need to see a doctor. But if there is swelling around the wound and the pain intensifies, signs of allergies and weakness appear, it is necessary to resort to medical care. It is imperative to consult a doctor, regardless of the victim’s condition, if he is under 16 years old or if there have been several bites.

The benefits and harms of hornets

If you do not touch the nests of insects and do not catch them themselves, your neighborhood with them will be completely peaceful. People themselves are not interested in hornets. They try to avoid “communication” with them, do not fly into the house, and do not sit on food.

In addition, the benefits from them are quite tangible: hornets destroy insects, which makes it easier to control pests in the garden. In addition to the fact that the working individuals themselves feed on them, they also feed the larvae, which in hornets are incredibly voracious and also carnivorous. Adults hunt for beetles, spiders, flies and other insects. Hornets also prey on small arthropods.

But in apiaries, hornets cause harm, since they also feed on bees; in one day, one individual can destroy up to 30 bees and their larvae, obtaining them for themselves and their young. In addition, these insects are very fond of honey, because of which they destroy hives in a matter of hours, they like the juices and pulp of fruits, which often spoil the harvest. In addition, hornets often strip off the bark of young trees to build their nests, causing serious damage to seedlings.

To avoid an attack, it is worth destroying hornet nests only where there are hives, and also if they are constantly disturbed, for example, while working on the site. In other cases, it is better not to touch the nest. Moreover, in the new year it will already be empty - insects do not return to last year’s nest. To prevent new hornet dwellings from appearing on the site, you need to not miss the moment when the queen begins to fuss in the spring and look for a place for the family, and destroy it. If this fails, you will have to coexist with the hornets until the fall.

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Why the hornet is dangerous for humans and preventive measures

Hornet stings are among the most dangerous among insects. This is explained by the peculiarity of the poison and its quantity (hornet - large insect).

The hornet is one of the largest representatives of the wasp genus. This massive insect, measuring up to 55 mm in length, is very dangerous. In fact, the hornet differs from an ordinary wasp only in the size of the top of its head and its rounded abdomen. Like all representatives of the wasp genus, hornets build their paper nests. You can often distinguish a hornet's nest from an ordinary wasp's nest by color. Since hornets are accustomed to building nests from rotten stumps and birch branches, their so-called hive has a bright brown color, and the wasp nest has a cool gray tint. To build their nest, hornets choose a variety of hollows, attics and paths. These insects feed on flies, bees, wasps, mosquitoes and all smaller insects. Like all representatives of wasps, hornets are very fond of sweets. In addition to their smaller brothers, they feed on substances that contain a lot of sugar, for example, honey from bees.

How dangerous is a hornet and how bad the consequences can be

Many people, especially those living outside the city, are concerned about the question: “How dangerous is a hornet to humans?” These insects occupy one of the first places in terms of danger and degree of harm to the human body. The danger is represented by its poison, which can affect both the tissue at the site of the sting and the entire body as a whole. Representatives are especially dangerous tropical species hornets. Tropical hornets use deadly poison; moreover, they are larger than their European relatives and inject more poison when they bite. But don’t think that the common European hornet is much safer. Its bite can also be fatal. Especially if the victim is a person who is highly sensitive to insect poisons.

The venom of this insect is the most powerful among all insect venoms. Therefore, you should not torment yourself with questions: “how is a hornet dangerous,” and by any means you should avoid contact with these insects.

How does the poison work?

As mentioned above, hornet venom is very dangerous. Let's take a closer look at how the bite of this insect affects a person.

The first thing a person begins to feel after a hornet bite is a sharp throbbing pain. The sting itself resembles a bee sting. Then large swelling and inflammation appears at the site of the bite. Hornet venom destroys cells and walls of blood vessels. It is because of this that local hemorrhages occur, and sometimes, in especially in rare cases even extensive hematomas, suppuration and general complete poisoning of the body.

Moreover, the person begins to suffer from severe headaches, the heartbeat accelerates, the temperature rises and the head becomes dizzy.

If the victim is attacked by not one, but many insects at once, this can even lead to death.

Sometimes, in order to save a person after being bitten by a hornet, his fingers were amputated.

Are there any benefits from hornets?

Most people are more concerned about why the hornet is dangerous and very few people are interested in whether this insect has any benefit.

By its nature, the hornet is a predator that destroys a large number of different harmful insects on which it feeds. Thus it brings benefits. But not when they start building nests in apiaries. In such cases, they are terrible pests and killers of honey producers.

How to get rid of hornets

In order to get rid of hornets that have chosen your area for their nest, it is important to strictly adhere to safety measures.

To begin with, you should wear very thick protective clothing. Make sure that every part of your body is covered so that insects do not have a chance to sting you. Be sure to take care of a mask that will protect your face.

Then you need to choose the right time. Hornets are active and aggressive during the day, so it is best to deal with nests early in the morning or late in the evening. Due to lower temperatures, hornets are less active in the morning and evening. Then find some kind of stick or long pole and pick up the nest. Take it somewhere away from your home.

Prevention measures against hornets

In order for these dangerous creatures you have not been bothered, you need to adhere to some preventive measures.

Here are some of the most important rules preventing the appearance of hornets in your home:

1) Remove the food source. Hornets have very good memory, so they perfectly remember the places of food sources and visit them regularly. Uncollected garbage or leftover animal feed is a great tempter for these insects. Therefore, do not throw garbage around the yard; store all leftover food in special airtight containers.

2) Change the landscape of your site. As mentioned above, hornets have a very good memory. They are able to remember everything down to the smallest detail. Therefore, if there was previously a nest of these dangerous insects on your territory, then try to change the appearance of the area as quickly as possible. Remove a few branches, place some decorative elements in the yard, figurines, and seal holes. This way you will deceive the insects and make your life easier.

3) Carefully destroy all traces. Remove all traces of previous nests. Remove all honey, wax, remains of nests and other obvious signs of hornets. Then all these places must be thoroughly treated with pesticide. Be careful during processing.

Hornet is pretty dangerous insect. Therefore, avoid contact with him. Be extremely careful and never allow children near them.

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Insect control: how to get rid of hornets

There is no clear opinion among the people regarding hornets. On the one hand, they kill really serious pests that devour crops and cause great damage. But, on the other hand, these rather large and rather scary insects are not pleasant neighbors. AND most of Gardeners who encounter this “monster” prefer to find the nest and destroy the insect. Therefore, let's try to figure out how to get rid of hornets.

Hornet bee: benefit or harm?

The individual can grow up to five centimeters in length. Except impressive size, hornets have a large sting with dangerous poison. These insects are a genus of social wasps and are considered the largest among them. Therefore, knowing how to get rid of hornets is a desire that is not devoid of logic. Especially if their nest is located near your home.

The black hornet is scientifically called the common or European hornet. It lives in Siberia and the European part of the Russian Federation. Insect head yellow color, the abdomen is yellow with spots and black bands, the chest is black. The color of the wings is yellowish-brown.

The hornet bee lives in the forest in dry and sunny clearings or edges. It builds nests in tree hollows, burrows or wooden buildings. Their nests are honeycombs, similar to paper ones, constructed in several tiers, with the openings of the structure pointing downwards. Hornets make their homes from the outer layer of tree bark, which they gnaw and moisten with sticky saliva. Adults eat nectar from flowers, berries and fruit pulp, and love to feast on tree sap and various insects. The larvae are fed on killed, crushed insects, even honey bees.

How to get rid of hornets? The question is serious. By disturbing their nest, you risk encountering real aggression typical of this species of Coleoptera. Their bite is quite painful, may be accompanied by swelling and inflammation, cause headaches, increased heart rate, dizziness, high temperature. In severe cases, difficulty breathing and anaphylactic shock are noted. In addition, this vindictive insect is capable of chasing the offender for more than one kilometer.

How to get rid of hornets

You need to get rid of hornets first summer days, it is at this time that the young queen begins to lay a nest. There are few insects during this period, and humans are quite capable of dealing with them.

They say that large nests should be destroyed at night, when most of the individuals are inside. The house is placed in plastic bag or simply sprayed with poison. But the poison will not get inside the nest and will not affect every individual, and this is dangerous. After all, hornets never sleep, they see well in the dark and will gladly attack a person either during the day or at night. There is one more fact you need to know. If an individual does not manage to get into the nest before nightfall, then it remains for the night where darkness found it. In the morning, having flown home and not finding the nest, the angry insect will take revenge and sting everyone in its path. For two days you simply will not be able to leave the house.

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Hornet: is the bite of this little worker dangerous?

The industrious hornet is an insect that is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Creating big family, the hornets work day after day for the benefit of their colony.

When they find themselves close to a person, they can not only bite painfully, but also benefit him. Therefore, it is important to know the habits of hornets and be able to negotiate with them.

Description and types

Hornet (Vespa) is a stinging insect of the order Hymenoptera and the most major representative kind of social wasps. As an insect representing its family, the hornet has wasp waist, striped abdomen, thin transparent wings, large eyes and powerful jaws. However, the hornet has a number of features by which it can be easily distinguished from the well-known wasp. He is twice the size of his relative.

The hornet's coloration includes yellow, orange, brown and black, while the wasp's coloration is only yellow and black. The hornet is often called the largest wasp.

Varieties

The main distribution areas of the insect are: North hemisphere planets up to the 63rd parallel. There are a total of 23 known species of hornets. They have a lot in common: lifestyle, reproduction, dietary preferences, but they are different external signs and sizes. The most common ones are:

Hornets live in colonies in nests built in the form of several horizontal tiers of honeycombs. As a material for their home, they use a cardboard-like mass, which they make themselves by chewing wood fibers and moistening it with saliva. A nest can contain up to 7 rows of honeycombs, each row containing about 550 cells.

Hornets make their nests in hollow trees, in old birdhouses, under the roofs of houses, and in attics.

Inhabitants of steppe regions settle in animal burrows or underground.

What does an insect eat?

Hornets feed on nectar and plant foods containing a lot of sugar. Among the insects' preferences are ripe fruits, berries, flower nectar, honey and tree sap.

At the same time, hornets are predators. They hunt insects to feed their larvae. With the help of a sting and powerful jaws The hornet easily copes with flies, horseflies, gadflies, bees, wasps, grasshoppers and locusts. It completely chews the prey and feeds it to the larvae.

Reproduction of hornets

The founder of each hornet family is a fertile female (queen), who survived the winter in a secluded place. In the spring, with the onset of warmth, the queen wakes up, looks for a place for a nest, builds the first honeycombs and raises the first larvae from the eggs laid in them.

At the beginning of July, the larvae turn into working hornets, which immediately get to work. They obtain food for new larvae, feed the queen and protect the home from enemies. The uterus no longer works and only lays eggs.

With coordinated work, the family quickly grows, new rows of honeycombs are set up and the nest increases in size. Working hornets are sterile females, but by autumn, young queens and males (drones) capable of reproducing appear in the colony.

Fertilized young females hide in secluded places for the winter in order to create new family, and the queen and males that have fulfilled their function soon die. The head of the family, the queen, lives about a year, and all other family members live only a few months.

Benefits and harms

Hornets are useful in that they destroy insects, making it easier for gardeners to combat garden pests, but the hornets' usefulness ends when they settle in apiaries.

Hornets - the storm of bees

In autumn, honey bees become the main food of hornets - other insects already die at this time.

When raiding hives, one hornet can eat about 30 bees in a day.

When uninvited guests appear, beekeepers try to get rid of them by all possible means.

Being too close to hornets can also be dangerous for humans. An insect bite causes burning pain and can provoke severe allergic reactions.

The bite can be dangerous to humans

Consequences

When attacking, a hornet can bite one or more times. A single bite is not as dangerous to humans as multiple bites. Getting large amounts of insect venom under your skin can cause serious problems.

After a hornet attack, a person experiences intoxication of the body, which leads to the following consequences:

• dizziness, headache, signs of nausea and vomiting.
• fever and chills, sweating.
• difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, in rare cases, convulsions.

The consequences may vary in severity. It depends on the type of hornet, on immune system person, on his age and sensitivity to allergens. Children are the most susceptible to hornet venom. The most dangerous consequence Hornet attacks can cause angioedema and anaphylactic shock.

Help with a bite

There are several first aid rules for a hornet sting that will help minimize the consequences of an attack by the largest wasp. The sequence of actions is as follows:

1. Examine the bite site and remove sting particles with tweezers, if any.
2. Carefully squeeze out the insect venom.
3. Wash the wound with soap and then wipe it with a solution of alcohol or potassium permanganate.
4. Apply cold.
5. Take an antihistamine.

You don’t need to visit a doctor if the hornet has bitten you only once and there is no deterioration in the victim’s condition. However, you should consult a doctor if there are following signs:

• strong pain and extensive swelling of the bite site;
• weakness and severe manifestations of allergies;
• attack by several hornets at the same time;
• The victim's age is under 16 years.

How to Avoid a Bite

The hornet attacks only when it senses danger to itself or its nest. At the first threat, it releases a special substance - an alarm pheromone, which serves as an attack signal for other individuals. Therefore, you should not kill the hornet near the nest. Hornets, sensing the smell of danger, the whole family can attack the offender of their relative.

It is advisable to destroy hornet nests only in cases where they threaten bees or their nests are located too close to housing. If the insects have built their home where they will not be disturbed, there is no need to be afraid of their attack. On the contrary, they will even become assistants in protecting the crop from other insects.

Of course, the hornet can be dangerous to humans. However, you can coexist peacefully with it, if you take into account its habits and characteristics. It is also better not to come close to it and not disturb its nest. And it is important to remember that in nature there is nothing superfluous, which means it is better to protect hornets rather than destroy them.

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The wasp family causes a lot of trouble to humans. It also includes hymenoptera insects, the largest wasps on the planet - hornets (Vespa). Today, science knows 23 species of representatives of this family. They occupied all of Europe. In Russia, “winged robbers” feel good even in Siberia. There are especially many of them in the Primorsky Territory. Largest populations hornets in the tropics of Asia, there are quite a few of them in the Moscow region.

Hornets are different: friendly and dangerous

The average weight of hornets is 2 g, with males being twice as small as females. Small transparent, mica-like wings cover the body. Vespa hymenoptera insects live only a few months (males), and about 12 months for females. Before their death, the males fertilize the queens and die themselves. Fertilized females, capable of producing offspring, fall into suspended animation, staying there through the winter and waiting for the warmth of May, when the air warms up to 10 degrees.

The “head of the family” is the uterus. This is a female capable of reproducing offspring. She - shining example how hornets hibernate. If males die with the onset of cold weather, then female wasps find quiet, warm place, to survive. Spring months spend in the hassle of arranging the nest, building honeycombs, and caring for the larvae until mid-summer. When they mature, they themselves become protectors and providers of food for the newly emerged larvae and the queen. A colony of hornets, in which individuals live together for only a few months, consists of a “creator” - the queen, work “horses” (hornets), young queens and males that do not have stings.

Small wasps and large wasps

Hornets are predators. They are often confused with common wasps, having no idea what a hornet looks like. In fact, the size of the “striped robbers” is 2 times larger than the wasps, although in other respects the similarity is great:

• the same expressive large eyes;
• powerful jaws and sting - two types of defense and food extraction: they use the sting to hit the victim or tear it apart with powerful jaws.
• a striped body, as if tied at the waist (only the wasp has a black and yellow color scheme, while the hornet’s color scheme is also diluted with brown and orange).

On a note. Hornets, on the one hand, are undoubtedly useful. They are the orderlies of garden crops, protecting them from harmful insects. On the other hand, the hornet spoils fruits and eats bees in evidence (one individual eats about 30 bees per day). If you show aggression towards the “pirates” or try to destroy the nest, the hornets that previously coexisted peacefully with you turn into real robbers, mercilessly stinging the enemy.

The most common types of hornets

Here you can mainly find the common hornet (Vespa crabro). Habitat: Ural, European Russia, eastern China. The insect uterus is large, reaching 25-35 mm. The working wasp is smaller - 18-22 mm in size.

• A rare species of large wasp is the black hornet or Dybowski hornet (Vespa dybowskii). The color of the abdomen is black, the wings have a brownish tint. The size is similar to an ordinary “relative”. It is found here in Transbaikalia, Primorye and Amur. Also “occupied” the territory of India, Japan, Korea and China. It is known for the fact that the queen “raises other people’s children” by killing the same individual of a colony of another species and taking its place.
• Madagascar, North Africa, southern Russia, Asia – places where Vespa orientalis (eastern hornet) is found. This species of large wasps, the females of which reach 30 mm, is distinguished by its beautiful colors in red-brown tones. Feels great in dry steppe and desert climates.
• Vespa mandarinia or Asian hornet (giant). It is considered the largest (body length up to 50 mm) and the most dangerous. Feature its coloring: wide black “tracks” on the abdomen, contrasting with the yellow head. “Asian” lives in China, India, Japan. He also flew to our Primorye. Releases a highly toxic poison that is dangerous to humans because it can be fatal.

Hornets lifestyle

It is very interesting to watch how hornets live. Colonies live in hollow trees, occupy empty beehives, and attics of houses. The house consists of horizontally molded honeycombs in the amount of 5-7 pieces. Moreover, up to five thousand eggs are laid in each of them. The highly organized life of large wasps allows them to protect their offspring and survive enemy attacks. Special “guards” notify other relatives that danger is approaching, and the whole family rushes to attack. Defense weapons are toxic and, in severe cases, can be fatal.

Attention! A hornet sting in humans is characterized by painful sensations and causes allergic reactions, although the sting itself does not remain in the wound. This is partly due to the dose of poison introduced into the body. In some insect species it is about 2 mg. Compared to a bee sting, this is more than 2 times more. The severity of the bite is also affected by the subspecies of hornet that caused it. The substance of the Asian hornet is considered the most dangerous and toxic.

Spiders, mosquitoes, caterpillars, dragonflies, bees, flies, and butterflies that live next to large wasps in nature are potential “contenders” to be eaten at one fine moment. Hornets lead a 24-hour lifestyle. This explains that they also catch nocturnal insects for food, as a result of which the daily “catch” of an entire family of “pirates” can reach up to half a kilogram of live food. For gardening, captured pests in such quantities are a significant help from huge wasps, which cannot be said about apiaries. Hornets catch bees, climb into the hive and feast on honey. The damage to beekeeping is enormous. A hornet that is not noticed in time can single-handedly destroy a bee colony.

Interesting. It would be incorrect to say that live food is consumed by adults. For growth and development, the larvae need food from finely chewed insects, while the adult hornet is content with flower pollen, their nectar, as well as ripe pulp and juice of fruits and vegetables. The fed larvae themselves secrete a sweetish sticky substance, which the worker wasps feed on in unfavorable weather.

Hornets and humans: a state of parity

Insects try to avoid humans. They never try to sit on food that is on the table. Wasps and bees immediately climb into the dishes, into his home. This is another way to distinguish a bee from a hornet. In nature, the habitat of hornets is forests. There, on young trees, especially ash trees, they peel off the skin to make nests. This leads to drying out of the seedlings. But the hornets moisten torn pieces of young bark and wood with saliva, processing them into a paste-like consistency. A nest is built from it (honeycomb and shell), which by the end of summer reaches impressive sizes and resembles corrugated paper. Appearance nests may vary in color due to the type of wood used.

Over time, under the influence of precipitation, the house collapses, because... does not withstand dampness well. Therefore, tireless workers every year, without getting tired, sculpt new dwellings under the roofs of barns and houses, shaping them from top to bottom. The main life of the queen and larvae takes place in such houses. The products of their vital activity in the form of drops are released from the honeycomb.

No matter how “cute” the hornets are, it is better to admire them from a distance. Therefore, if you notice in the spring that the queen begins to fuss and form a nest, you need to immediately stop this by destroying the insect. If this moment is missed, learn to coexist peacefully with these interesting and nice “hard workers.”

Often, just the thought of it can cause panic. But why is the hornet dangerous for humans if they are so afraid of it? Only by the amount of poison injected and the myths spread about hornets. A single bite can pose a risk to human life only for those who suffer from an allergy to insect bites. Multiple bites can be ignored, since in this case even small house ants are dangerous.

Myths and reality

There are many frightening myths about very “dangerous” hornets:

• attack without reason;
• the bite is very painful;
• the hornet has 9 stings;
• the poison from seven bites is enough to kill a horse;
• three bites are enough to kill a person;
• The venom is much stronger than bee venom and affects the entire body.

There are quite enough frightening facts to make you try your best to avoid the hornet and. But these points will have to be considered separately and in detail.

Attacks

As a social, nest-building insect, the largest wasp, as the hornet is often called, considers protecting its home and offspring a natural response to threat. A person often does not notice hornet honeycombs hidden in a secluded place and believes that the aggression was causeless. One has only to step back a couple of steps from the nest and the attacks will immediately stop. Even a reaction to an irritating odor will only occur near the nesting site. In any other place, the hornet wasp will simply fly away. Conclusion: the hornets had a reason for stinging. If possible, representatives of this genus prefer to flee rather than attack. - different insects, although there are similarities between them.

On a note!

If you press the hornet, it will also sting.

Painful bite

The myth is based on the size of the insect: the larger it is, the more painful the hornet stings. The statement is partially true. The painfulness of a European hornet sting on the Schmidt scale is on par with a honey bee sting. Polistinae and Pepsis wasps sting more painfully. But the bite will be more painful due to the size of the insect. The hornet's sting matches the size of the insect and penetrates deeper than the bee's sting. This circumstance adds thrill.

Number of stings

You can find out how many stings a hornet has on your own. All you have to do is slam one and take a close look. There is a myth that these wasp species can sting repeatedly because they have 9 stingers. Where do they hide these stings, one wonders.

On a note!

In fact, like everyone else, the hornet has only one sting. But it is smooth and does not get stuck in human skin. This means that this is a reusable weapon.

Degree of toxicity

Much depends on the size of the insect. The larger the wasp, the more poison it can release per bite. The myth about killing a horse or a person is only partly true. But here it is not so important how many times it stings. It matters where they sting.

The general rule is: the closer to the brain the bite was made, the more dangerous the situation.

Horses are more sensitive to insect poisons than humans, but it is impossible to kill them with seven doses into the thigh or back muscle. But if you are “lucky” to get poison into the jugular vein or into the oral cavity, the death of the animal is almost guaranteed. You can try to save a person.

First aid

Hornet venom causes allergic reaction, one of the symptoms of which is soft tissue swelling. If the bite was made in oral cavity, then swelling of the tongue or larynx is inevitable. This swelling will cover Airways and will lead to suffocation. In this case, the person must immediately call Ambulance. If you have an antihistamine in ampoules and a syringe on hand, you can inject the antidote. You can’t hesitate, even if “there’s nothing yet.” How quickly a person gets to the hospital with laryngeal swelling depends on his chances of life.

With an animal in such a situation you will have to go all-in. Provided that the bite occurred far from civilization. There is nothing to lose here, but you can still improve the situation if you force the animal to run as quickly as possible. Goal: disperse the hornet's venom throughout the body. Contrary to myths, no insect or reptile poison affects the entire body. It has a local effect and is dangerous for small creatures, in which the “local action” extends to the entire body. Pets are usually much larger. The poison distributed in small doses throughout the animal’s body cannot cause harm. The poison is spread by blood, which must be made to flow as quickly as possible.

On a note!

The hornet is truly dangerous for its victims: smaller insects.

When bitten into a large vessel

This type of contact may represent serious danger for people. Hornet venom contains substances that destroy cell walls. The same substances are contained in snake venom. This is an evolutionary adaptation that allows poisonous creatures hunting and improving the absorption of eaten food. In the case of hornets, it makes it easier to prepare a suspension for the larvae.

Of first aid to a person in such a situation, only the maximum possible Fast shipping to the hospital, since the penetration of toxins into the brain will be instantaneous. But no one can say whether the dissolution of the walls of a blood vessel in the brain and subsequent stroke will occur. It all depends on the dose and individual characteristics the body of the injured person.

Muscle lesion

In large blood vessel you still need to be able to get there. In the case of insects, a person is usually bitten on the leg or arm. In this case, the poison enters the muscle. If you are allergic to animal poison, the scheme is standard: call an ambulance as soon as possible and send to the hospital. The same applies to children with low body weight and insufficient muscle mass.

In the absence of allergies, the matter is usually limited to a local allergic reaction:

• the bite site swells and turns red;
• at first the person feels pain, later severe itching;
• local tissue temperature is increased.

If several bites are received, the general temperature body, vomiting may occur. Sweating and dizziness appear. Symptoms of intoxication are observed.

Don't check for own experience, how many hornet bites a person can withstand and survive. It is better that such knowledge remains theoretical.

If severe intoxication occurs, the person should also be sent to the hospital as quickly as possible. Before the doctor arrives, you can try to bring down the temperature by wiping the person with a wet cloth. You should not give aspirin, since this drug thins the blood, and the walls of the blood vessels are already damaged by the hornet's venom. Through damaged walls, blood can leak into the tissue.

In case of local irritation, the bite site is washed cold water and apply ice. This will reduce pain and itching. Then you need to see a doctor and follow his recommendations.

The life cycle of the hornet family begins in early May, when hibernation the uterus comes out. First, she makes reconnaissance flights, looking for a suitable place for a nest. When the location is determined, the queen begins to form the first hexagonal cells of the honeycomb, gradually attaching others to them.

Soon, each cell will be occupied by one egg, from which a larva will develop in 5–8 days. The larva is held in the cell by a sticky secretion. The larvae are fed with killed and chewed insects. After 13–15 days, a hornet develops from the pupa, the transformation process of which is called metamorphosis.

Around the beginning of July, the first female workers and drones take over the work of the queen in completing the nest, while she is only busy laying new eggs. At the beginning of autumn the hornets reach highest point of its development. All working hornets, drones and the queen die with the onset of the first frost, and fertilized females hide for the winter and begin building new nests in the spring, repeating the life cycle.

Adult hornets feed primarily on insects. When settling near apiaries, hornets can cause serious harm to them, destroying honey bees, killing them with their sting and with the help of a strong jaw apparatus. The large size of hornets and the strength of their venom allow them to also attack grasshoppers, wasps and locusts.
Hornets also feed on sugar-containing substances: sap from tree wounds, flower nectar, fruits of fruit and berry crops, from which they eat the pulp by gnawing the shell of the fruit. Thus, hornets can be classified as both beneficial - due to the fact that they eat pests - and harmful insects.

Features of hornet behavior

Hornets belong to the class of social insects. Forming colonies, they are able, mobilizing the whole nest, to defend their swarm and queen from an actual or only supposed attack.

If the hornet feels threatened, its secretory glands begin to secrete an alarm pheromone - a special substance that can activate other hornets to attack.

To avoid a swarm attack, it is important to avoid sudden movements near the hornets’ nest and shaking the nest itself. It is also extremely undesirable to allow the death of a hornet near its nest, since distress signals transmitted by a dying insect can prompt the entire colony to attack.

With a careful and gentle approach and calm behavior, you can observe the life of the hornets without the risk of being stung, since outside the area of ​​immediate proximity to the nest, hornets, as a rule, do not behave aggressively.

Hornet stings. First aid

The sting of a hornet is very painful and can cause severe allergic conditions in humans, including anaphylactic shock. The consequences of a bite largely depend on individual intolerance to the poison and on the type of insect itself. It is worth noting that the venom of most species of hornets, including the common hornet, is even less toxic than bee venom. It also differs from the bee sting in that the sting does not remain in the wound when injected.

A bee, having bitten an animal, loses its sting and dies. This increases the effectiveness of the poison, since the contents of the poisonous bladder of a dead insect completely enters the wound. Hornets, on the other hand, use their sting to kill prey and release poison when they sting only when minimum quantity. Wasps and hornets are distinguished by the ability to strike with their sting several times, since their sting, unlike a bee's, is smooth and straight.

At the sites of bites, local reactions may manifest as redness of the body, swelling, and pain. Body temperature may rise, nausea, headache and lethargy may appear, and coordination may be impaired. First aid for a hornet bite should include immediately removing the sting, squeezing out liquid from the wound and applying a cold lotion to the bite area.

Even people who are not allergic to bee and wasp stings should immediately take an antihistamine tablet. Individual intolerance to poison may not appear immediately, but over time. Therefore, you should carefully monitor whether there is difficulty breathing, nausea, changes in pressure, increased body temperature and skin rashes.

The natural habitat of hornets is forest. Active cutting down of old trees and green spaces in general leads to the fact that hornets are forced to adapt to the current conditions and look for new places to build nests. That is why hornet dwellings are increasingly found in gardens, in close proximity to residential and commercial buildings of people, thereby posing a significant threat. You can fight hornets on your own at the beginning of their life cycle(while the nest is small and the population is insignificant), but this is not recommended.

If a large colony is discovered, effective disposal For this kind of “neighbors”, turning to specialists is mandatory.

Hornets attack - video

The common hornet (Vespa crabro in Latin) is one of the most common species of the Hornet genus. The appearance of this insect is well recognizable, and its size does not allow it to be confused with wasps or bees. This species is the most common in our country, and in the whole world, among the 22 species of its relatives, the common hornet has the widest habitat: it inhabits the entire temperate zone Eurasia and North America.

The common or European hornet is almost the most frequent guest in gardens and summer cottages. Here it can settle, making its nests, or simply fly in from nearby plantings and forests in search of food.

It is generally accepted that the bite of a common hornet is not only very dangerous to human health, but is also more painful than the bites of wasps or bees. In general, it is difficult to argue with this statement, but for the most part, hornets are no more dangerous for people working on the site than other stinging insects. If you take a closer look at the common hornet, this seemingly dubious fact will become obvious.

Appearance and anatomy of our largest wasp

If you look at the common hornet from a systematic point of view, it becomes clear why this insect is so often compared to wasps, bees, ants and bumblebees: they are all related species, because. are included in the Order Hymenoptera. And in appearance, the European hornet resembles a greatly enlarged paper wasp, only the top of its chest is repainted from black to brown.

The photo below shows a common hornet:

Experts know that hornets differ from wasps in some other color details. Thus, the black constrictions on their abdomen are less pronounced, and its very base is brown. However, from a distance, ordinary people can easily mistake hornets for wasps themselves, especially if you see them in large quantities near the nest.

Wasp photo:

By the end of summer, the family of common hornets acquires such a size that it can provide food for individuals capable of reproduction. The queen begins to lay eggs, from which non-sterile females and males hatch. Around September and early October, these individuals swarm and mate.

A few weeks after mating, the males die, and the females look for suitable secluded places in the area (under stones, snags, in hollows) and hide in them for the winter, so that in the summer each of them can give birth to a new family.

It is worth noting that old queens and working hornets die in winter, and their nest becomes empty. However, young females never occupy the old nest - new life They always start with a new home.

In nature, the nests of common hornets are most often located in hollows or on tree trunks.

In conditions of proximity to humans, for example, in summer cottages, these insects choose courtyard buildings, attics, niches under roofs and slopes, i.e. places where it is always calm and quiet.

Speaking about the proximity of the hornet and man, one cannot help but pay attention to the craze for fighting hornets, which takes place in Lately. As a result of such thoughtless extermination in many regions of our country, these insects became extremely rare, and therefore they began to be included in the regional Red Books.

If a common hornet settles in your personal plot, it is worth destroying its nest only when the insect’s home constantly has to be disturbed during work. In this case, it is better not to risk it and remove the nest with any in a safe way. If the insects’ home is in a secluded place, they themselves are unlikely to bite people living next to them without reason.

Before you fight hornets, be sure to remember that one family of them destroys up to 100 pests on your site per day. Before you kill a hornet just like that, think about what serious support it can provide you in the fight for the harvest.