HYMENOPTERA :: Vespidae :: Vespinae :: Vespa

Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836

Biology

Generalist hunter and scavenger. Nests aerial (known to initiate colonies underground and later to build aerial nest), spherical (ovoid as mature), with a lateral entrance, with several combs suspended by multiple columns, with envelope multi-layered. Colonies can be large.

Sources

Barthélémy, C. A. Provisional Identification Guide to the Social Vespids of Hong Kong (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Available online: http://insectahk.com

Barthélémy C & Guénard B. 2025. An annotated and illustrated checklist of Hong Kong aculeate wasps (Hymenoptera: Apoid wasps; Pompilioidea; Scolioidea; Thynnoidea; Tiphioidea; Vespoidea; Chrysidoidea). Insecta Mundi 1115: 1–230.

Kumar G.P. & Srinivasan G. 2010. Taxonomic studies of hornet wasps (Hymenoptera : Vespidae) Vespa Linnaeus of India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 110. 57–80. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v110/i2/2010/158949 

Smith-Pardo A.H.,  Carpenter, J. M. & Kimsey L. 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): 2; 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaa006