Rank Species | Genus Vespa | |
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Similar Vespa dybowskii, Vespa simillima, Vespa analis, Vespa affinis, Vespa tropica | ||
Vespa ducalis on oak sap
Vespa ducalis, the black-tailed hornet, is a hornet and an insect in the genus Vespa. It was described by Smith in 1852. In Japan, it is called hisuzumebachi (姫雀蜂, literally: princess sparrow bee)
Contents
Japanese vespa ducalis
Description
It has a body length of between 24 and 37 mm with a distinctive black tail. Fully grown, it can be only slightly smaller than the Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) which has a body length of 45 mm.
Distribution
It is found in Asia in places such as China (mainland), Hong Kong, India (northeast part), Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar, Nepal, Siberia in Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam (north and central part).
Behaviour
The larvae of Vespa ducalis basically only eat the pupae and larvae of paper wasps and so adult Vespa ducalis will often attack the nests of paper wasps and hunt the larvae, while ignoring the adults.
Nest
The colonies it creates are the smallest of those in the genus Vespa. The nest is underground and on average contains around 50 hornets.