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Hornets have stingers used to kill prey and defend nests. Hornet stings are more painful to humans than typical wasp stings because hornet venom contains a large amount (5%) of acetylcholine. [8] [9] Individual hornets can sting repeatedly.
The hornets can devastate a colony of honey bees, especially if it is the introduced western honey bee. A single hornet can kill as many as 40 bees per minute due to its large mandibles, which can quickly strike and decapitate prey. [91] The honey bees' stings are ineffective because the hornets are five times their size and heavily armored.
European hornets have been observed to steal prey from spiders, which can be classified as an example of kleptoparasitism. This behavior was first documented in 2011 against a yellow garden spider, Argiope aurantia. A European hornet flew into the spider’s web and appeared entangled.
Stings are usually located at the rear of the animal. Animals with stings include bees, wasps (including hornets), some ants like fire ants, and scorpions, [2] [3] as well as a single beetle species (Onychocerus albitarsis) that can deliver a venomous sting from its antennae, whose terminal segments have evolved to resemble a scorpion's tail. [4]
The yellow-legged hornet looks a lot like several native insects, including the cicada killer wasp, the bald-faced hornet, paper wasps, queen yellowjackets, wood wasps and robber flies.
Many wasp lineages, including those in the families Vespidae, Crabronidae, Sphecidae, and Pompilidae, attack and sting prey items that they use as food for their larvae; while Vespidae usually macerate their prey and feed the resulting bits directly to their brood, most predatory wasps paralyze their prey and lay eggs directly upon the bodies ...
Numerous animal species naturally produce chemical toxins which are used to kill or incapacitate prey or as a defense against predators. Venomous animals actively deliver their toxins (called venom ) into their target through a specially designed mechanism, such as a bite or sting , by using a venom apparatus , such as fangs or a stinger , in a ...
It is the only known predator of the Asian hornet. [16] It spends large amounts of time on the forest floor excavating wasp nests. It is equipped with long toes and claws adapted to raking and digging, and scale-like feathering on its head, thought to be a defence against the stings of its prey. [17]