Hornets are stout wasps with broad heads that live in colonies and build paper nests from chewed wood fibers. Adults feed on nectar and tree sap, while workers hunt insects to feed the larvae. Watch hornets from a safe distance and leave nests to trained professionals.

In this group

European HornetVespa crabro

This is the long-established true hornet in eastern North America. It has a reddish-brown head and thorax with a yellow-and-dark abdomen.

Yellow-legged HornetVespa velutina

This invasive hornet is mostly dark with yellow lower legs and an orange band near the end of the abdomen. U.S. agencies are responding to detections in the Southeast.

Northern Giant HornetVespa mandarinia

This very large hornet has a broad orange head and strong dark-and-orange abdominal bands. It was declared eradicated from the United States in 2024.

Appearance

How to recognize it
True hornets are stout social wasps with broad heads and boldly banded abdomens. Color varies by species, so check the face, leg color, abdomen pattern, and overall size together.

Look-alikes

Bald-faced HornetDolichovespula maculata

It is black and white rather than brown, orange, and yellow, and it is not a true Vespa hornet. Its enclosed gray paper nest often hangs from a branch or structure.

Why they get mixed upIts common name says hornet, and it is a large social wasp with an aerial paper nest.

YellowjacketsVespula

Yellowjackets are usually smaller and more compact than true hornets. Clear photos of the face and abdominal pattern are more useful than color alone.

Why they get mixed upBoth groups are stout, yellow-banded social wasps.

Paper WaspsPolistes

Paper wasps have a slimmer waist and long legs that often trail in flight. Their open comb usually lacks the enclosing paper shell seen around many hornet nests.

Why they get mixed upThey are social wasps that often nest around homes.

Where it lives

Typical habitats
  • woodlands
  • wooded suburbs
  • tree cavities
  • buildings
Range
Most Vespa species are native to Asia, but European hornets are also native to Europe, and Oriental hornets are native to southern Europe and North Africa. In the United States, European hornets have long been established in the East; yellow-legged hornets have been detected in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, with established presence confirmed in North Carolina.
Preferred conditions
Species choose different nest sites, including soil cavities, hollow trees, high branches, and sheltered parts of buildings. Nest position is helpful, but it is not enough to identify a species by itself.
When it’s recorded

Recorded year-round, every year · most records in Sep

11,200 observations in the US · 10 years · for reference

Behavior

Diet
Adults take sugary foods such as nectar and tree sap. Workers hunt insects and carry chewed prey back to feed the larvae.
Activity
In temperate areas, a queen starts a nest in spring, the grows through summer, and new queens leave in fall. The workers and old queen die as winter arrives.
Social life
A colony has a queen and many female workers that share nest building, hunting, and care of the young.
Overwintering
In temperate regions, mated new queens shelter through winter while the rest of the colony dies.

Life cycle

Reproduction
A mated queen survives winter and begins the first cells alone. After the first workers emerge, they take over most foraging and nest construction.
Nest
Hornets chew wood fibers into layered paper combs. Depending on the species, the nest may be hidden underground or in a cavity, or suspended above ground.

Connected species

Ties with other wildlife
Hornets are predators of many insects. Yellow-legged and northern giant hornets can attack honey bee colonies, which is why new sightings receive close attention.
Prey
  • Western Honey BeeApis mellifera

    In the Southeast, invasive yellow-legged hornets hunt Western honey bees near their hives.

Name and classification

Group name
Hornets, in the strict biological sense, are the species in the genus Vespa. North American names can be misleading: the bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) is a yellowjacket, not a true hornet.
Number of species
A 2020 world review recognized 22 Vespa species.

Conservation

Threats
The yellow-legged hornet is an introduced species being trapped and removed in parts of the southeastern United States. Northern giant hornet is not considered established after the 2024 eradication declaration.

Culture and stories

Culture and stories
  • A safe photo and location record can help state officials check a suspected yellow-legged hornet; a nest should be left to trained responders.
14 sources
  1. iNaturalist Taxon API: Vespa
  2. The Diversity of Hornets in the Genus Vespa, Their Importance and Interceptions in the United States
  3. 산림 말벌 바로 알기
  4. 外来生物対策―ツマアカスズメバチについて
  5. APHIS in Action: Victory Over the World’s Largest Hornet Species
  6. Yellow-Legged Hornet
  7. 한국 외래생물 정보시스템: 생태계교란 생물 지정 현황
  8. IPM for Pennsylvania Schools and Childcares
  9. 한국민족문화대백과사전: 말벌
  10. Foraging behavior of an invasive alien hornet (Vespa velutina) at Apis mellifera hives in Korea
  11. 養蜂家向け衛生管理資料
  12. ハチの仲間
  13. Hornets and Honey Bees: A Coevolutionary Arms Race
  14. NCDA&CS confirms established yellow-legged hornet
Hornets (Vespa) — identification, habitat & look-alikes | Moeyo