CLOSED: CLOSED: CLOSED: CLOSED: A huge nocturnal (?) bee???

Nature_Phtgrphr Canton, OH Jan 11, 2009

I was camping and I heard a loud noise like a bunch of mosquitoes flying at the same time.I looked and saw this huge bee (?) and what was weird was that I saw it at night! I did't think bees were active at night...(???)..anyway,in the picture I have here,it was landed on a Christmas light we had on our porch.If you lined it up with the light,it would prolly be the same length as the Christmas light-from the tip of the clear light part to the white bottom where the wires go into.I was thinking maybe this was a queen bee or somethin.But I still don't understand why it was out at night.It was'nt the first time I saw him (or maybe it was another big bee) out there at night.Anyone know what this fella is and why it might have been out at night?(BTW,this pic was taken on 9-26-08)

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claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Jan 11, 2009

It's a European Hornet, Vespa crabro. It was probably looking for insects to eat; they're common at porch lights, but I never see them this time of year. ?

Post #5993053

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KlaasReissmann Duisburg, Germany Jan 13, 2009

I bit more exactly: this is Vespa crabro in the forma germana (red "v"-like figure on the Thorax). The length must be somewhat around one inch (2 to 3 cm). That means it is a queen. Hornets live in anual states. At the end of the year, around September, the new queens hatch. They mate with the males hatching also at this time. The male hornets die after mating. the workers enjoy their lives until the first frost, the old queen dies and the young queens search for a place to hide and overwinter. Normaly the young queen comes out in May and starts a new state, so January is by far to early. I suppose, that the queen was woken up by some disturbing. Very often they overwinter in dead, rotten wood. Maybe the wood was cut and transported away.

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claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Jan 14, 2009

Germana is its subspecies; botany uses forma, but not zoology. All the Eurpean Hornets in the US are subspecies germana.

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KlaasReissmann Duisburg, Germany Jan 22, 2009

Today germana is forma. In former times it was ssp., but the two "subspecies" germana and crabro appear in the same ares, so in newer times they are only forma.

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