European Hornet

Vespa crabro

European Hornet (Vespa crabro)
Image: Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA, wikipedia

The European hornet is the largest eusocial wasp native to Europe. It is also the only true hornet found in North America, having been introduced to the United States and Canada from Europe as early as 1840. Vespines, such as V. crabro, are known for making intricate paper-like nests out of surrounding plant materials and other fibers. Unlike most other vespines, reproductive suppression involves worker policing instead of queen pheromone control, as was previously thought. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this insect was recorded 493 times across 16 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

See the European Hornet on the live map

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

RegionFirst arrivalLast arrivalTypical peakAreas
Europe18 May 202610 August 20267 September 20262

Download every area as CSV

Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.