European hornet queen

Q: What is this giant bee? Is it the Asian Hornet that eats honey bees that I read about on the internet?

• Tom from Boardman

A: This insect is not the Asian Hornet. We have not found the Asian Hornet in our area. The only ones that have been found are in the Pacific Northwest and the nests were destroyed.

The insect Tom brought to our office was indeed very large. For Tom and others, this is a scary thing. But, we need the public to avoid the assumption that every large insect that looks like it can sting is an Asian hornet. Assumptions can be a bad thing. Tom did the right thing and brought us an insect sample to identify.

At first, most of us would expect reports of a “very large bee” or “very large yellow jacket” to be a cicada killer wasp. The cicada killer wasp does in fact look like a yellow jacket, only two to three times larger. The dark yellow or dark gold-colored bands on the abdomen do not connect on the cicada killer wasp, though. The cicada killer is generally docile and not easily provoked, but it can sting.

The males are more aggressive. They are all bark and no bite because they cannot sting. The insect generally feeds on flower nectar, but as its name suggests, it catches and stings adult cicadas (known by most as locusts). It uses these cicadas as food for developing larvae. These insects nest in the ground.

However, this insect was not a cicada killer wasp.

After a more careful review, we determined that this insect was a European hornet. These insects can be over one inch long. (The sample brought to our office was 1.25″ long.)This European hornet is quite large, but it has been in the United States since the 1840s.

The European hornet insects nest in paper like structures above the ground, but not as a hanging nest like other hornets. It is more active at night. Some of the calls to the office this week noted that something was “eating the bark off my tree.” In fact, these insects will strip bark off of trees (and they love lilac) to use as nesting material.

In general, they will not sting unless you provoke them. So, leave them alone. If you do get a nest in your house or building, it is advised for you to contact a professional exterminator for this insect. Other control options are listed on the factsheet links below.

To read more:

European Hornet — http://go.osu.edu/europeanhornet

Cicada Killer Wasps — http://go.osu.edu/cicadakillers

For details on the latest news on Asian Hornets in the US, go to http://go.osu.edu/asianhornetupdate.

Eric Barrett is the Ohio State University Extension Educator for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Mahoning County. Call 330-533-5538 to submit your questions to our clinic. Seasonal clinic hours are now Mondays from 10am-12pm. Details at go.osu.edu/mahoningclinic.