--- title: "Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "The world's largest hornet, whose raiding parties can kill thousands of honeybees in a few hours." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/asian-giant-hornet-1.webp" published: "2026-09-29" updated: "2026-09-29" --- # Asian Giant Hornet (*Vespa mandarinia*) > **Status**: Checked against 6 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: The world's largest hornet, whose raiding parties can kill thousands of honeybees in a few hours. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Psychedelic Rock & Neo-Psych // The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, "Fire" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/1wVBq2SkE1AOKoaOxUVvDC) > **Vibe Match**: Japanese honeybees kill an invading giant hornet by balling around it and vibrating their flight muscles until the heat reaches almost 47°C. Arthur Brown performed "Fire" wearing a headdress that was set alight. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Vespa mandarinia* - **Danger Level**: Deadly - **Conservation Status**: Not Evaluated ([IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)) - **Superpower**: Raiding parties that can kill 5,000 to 25,000 honeybees in a few hours - **Habitat**: Forests and low mountains across Asia, with nests mostly underground - **Diet**: Insects, especially honeybees in late summer and autumn, plus tree sap - **Tags**: insect, venomous, predator, social-colony, forest ## Natural History & Behavior ## One hive, a few hours, thousands of bees From August, the giant hornet switches from other prey to honeybees, and that bee-hunting peaks in September and October. One hornet can kill many bees but is unlikely to destroy a whole colony. When three or more hornets from the same nest hit one hive, they can enter a state called the "slaughter phase". A group of 20 to 30 can kill 5,000 to 25,000 honeybees in a few hours. The hornets want protein, so they keep the muscle-rich thorax, the bee's middle section. They drop the head, abdomen and legs and carry the thorax home as a "meatball". When the colony is decimated, the hornets move into the hive and eat the young bees there, making trips back to their nest for several days and up to two weeks. ## The bees that cook back > **The bee ball** When a foraging hornet tries to enter a Japanese honeybee hive, more than 500 workers can form a ball around it and vibrate their flight muscles. The heat inside the ball rises to almost 47°C, which is lethal to the hornet but not to the honeybees. European honeybees, the kind kept for honey, did not evolve alongside the hornet. They do not form the ball. Their guards fight hornets one by one in the air, and the much larger hornet always wins. ## A giant with a one-year colony This is the world's largest hornet, with a broad orange head. Workers can grow to 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) long, and queens can exceed 2 inches (5 cm), with a wingspan of 3 inches (7.6 cm). It lives naturally across Asia, including India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan. Nests are typically underground, usually in abandoned rodent burrows in forests, often in association with pine roots. Of 1,756 nests examined in Japan, only three were above ground. Its colonies last one year and die at the onset of winter. The only survivors are queens, which overwinter in underground cavities. Queens fight off the males, which leaves up to 65% of them unfertilized. Both fertilized and unfertilized queens overwinter, but only fertilized queens go on to found new nests the following year. ## A sting that hurts, and a spray Giant hornet stings are extremely painful. Per unit of volume, the venom is less deadly than that of some North American wasps. Its LD50, the dose that kills half of the animals tested, is 4.0 mg/kg against the southern yellowjacket's 3.5 mg/kg (lower means deadlier). But a giant hornet is big, so each sting delivers more venom. Defending its nest, it can also spray venom from its stinger. One case report describes a 77-year-old man who was not stung, yet venom sprayed into his eye left him with iris atrophy and a mature cataract. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How dangerous is the "murder hornet" to people? Its sting is extremely painful, but it does not hunt people. It can turn defensive when its nest is threatened, or when it is guarding food such as a hive it has taken over. Deaths are reported at 50 a year across its whole Asian range, mostly from allergic reactions, and more rarely from multiple organ failure due to a large number of stings. *(Source: [Penn State Extension 2025]())* ### Is the giant hornet living in the United States? No. Washington state's agriculture department found and destroyed four nests in Whatcom County in 2020 and 2021. After three years with no confirmed detections, it and the USDA declared the hornet eradicated from Washington and the United States. *(Source: [Washington State Department of Agriculture]())* ### Why do scientists now say "northern giant hornet"? In July 2022 the Entomological Society of America approved that name for Vespa mandarinia, which reflects that the species is found in the northern areas of its native range. English had no accepted name before, and "Asian giant hornet" was the one people used most. *(Source: [Penn State Extension 2025]())* ## Sources 1. [Nuñez-Penichet et al. (2021). Geographic potential of the world’s largest hornet, Vespa mandarinia Smith (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), worldwide and particularly in North America. PeerJ.]() 2. [Northern Giant Hornets. Penn State Extension, 2025.]() 3. [Ugajin et al. (2012). Detection of Neural Activity in the Brains of Japanese Honeybee Workers during the Formation of a “Hot Defensive Bee Ball”. PLoS ONE.]() 4. [Hirano & Tanikawa (2020). Ocular Injury Caused by the Sprayed Venom of the Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia). Case Reports in Ophthalmology.]() 5. [Barth, Kearns & Wason (2013). Vespa mandarinia. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 6. [Hornets. Washington State Department of Agriculture.]() *Published September 29, 2026. 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