Oriental hornet: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Oriental hornet lives – recorded in 22 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Vespa orientalis
Group	Bees, wasps & ants
Found in	22 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe
Class	Insect
Order	Hymenoptera
Family	Vespidae

Where does the Oriental hornet live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Oriental hornet in 22 countries and territories across Africa, Asia and Europe. Wikidata gives its range as: India. In Cyprus it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

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 Oriental hornet?

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

About the Oriental hornet

The Oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis) is a social insect species of the family Vespidae. It can be found in Southwest Asia, Northeast Africa, the island of Madagascar (but no reports have been made of its presence on the island for many years), the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Southern Europe. Oriental hornets have also been found in a few isolated locations such as Mexico and Chile due to human introduction. The Oriental hornet lives in seasonal colonies consisting of caste system dominated by a queen. The hornet builds its nests underground and communicates using sound vibrations. The hornet has a yellow stripe on its cuticle (exoskeleton), which can absorb sunlight to generate a small electrical potential, and this might help supply energy for digging. The adult hornet eats nectar and fruits and scavenges for insects and animal proteins to feed to its young. Because they are scavengers, the hornets may also serve as a transmitter of disease following consumption of infected plants. The hornets are a primary pest to honey bees, attacking bee colonies to obtain honey and animal proteins. The sting of an Oriental hornet can be quite painful to humans and some humans are allergic to stings.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Oriental hornet (revision 1375430812), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q1427593 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).