The first Vermont specimen of the large European hornet was found in the southern part of the state and identified last month by the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
The department says it’s possible the species has been here for a while and only just now been identified.
The yellow, black and brown insect is nearly twice the size of Vermont’s more familiar black-and-white baldfaced hornet. The European hornet first appeared in this country when it was inadvertently introduced in the mid-1800s and now ranges from the Northeast into the deep South and west to the Dakotas.
Michael Skvarla, director of the Insect Identification Lab at Penn State University, said what sets the European hornet apart is the fact it’s the only hornet that forages at night.
“They can be pests around porch lights at night," he said. "If you’re trying to sit out on your porch, they’ll come and buzz around the light, feeding on moths and other insects that come to the light."
Skvarla said European hornets are also different because they build their paper nests hidden in tree hollows and even in walls, unlike the exposed locations favored by their baldfaced cousins.
The European hornet first appeared in this country when it was inadvertently introduced in the mid-1800s and now ranges from the Northeast into the deep South and west to the Dakotas.
Skvarla said he sees European hornets in his field work, and he noted that “they’re great to photograph because they’re so big.”
However, he explained, the insect is not doing as well in Europe as it is in its adopted country.
“It’s illegal to kill this subspecies of European hornet in Germany because they’re endangered in their native range,” Skvarla said.
European hornets will feed on yellowjackets and other baldfaced hornets, caterpillars and a wide variety of insects. They also prey on honeybees.
While European hornets can be beneficial by killing harmful insects, they can also damage bushes and shrubs, particularly lilacs, by stripping off bark on branches to get at sap. Like their relatives, the insects can be aggressive when disturbed.
While they belong to the same family of wasps that includes yellowjackets and baldfaced hornets, the European hornet is the only true hornet found in North America.
