Asian giant hornet: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Asian giant hornet lives – recorded in 8 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Vespa mandarinia
Group	Bees, wasps & ants
Found in	8 countries
Continents	Asia, North America
Class	Insect
Order	Hymenoptera
Family	Vespidae

Where does the Asian giant hornet live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Asian giant hornet in 8 countries and territories across Asia and North America. Wikidata gives its range as: India.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the Asian giant hornet?

The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) is an insect in the order Hymenoptera and the family Vespidae, genus Vespa. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Asian giant hornet

The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), also known as the northern giant hornet, is the world's largest hornet. It is native to temperate and tropical East Asia, South Asia, mainland Southeast Asia, and parts of the Russian Far East. It was also briefly found in the Pacific Northwest of North America from late 2019 but was eradicated by December 2024.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Asian giant hornet (revision 1381487906), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q121791 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).