What species is the world's largest hornet?

The world’s largest hornet species is the Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia. It is native to broad parts of East, South and Southeast Asia, where it typically lives in forested or mountainous habitats.

Queens can exceed 50 millimeters in length, while workers are smaller; the species can also have a wingspan of around 75 millimeters and a stinger about 6 millimeters long. Unlike many familiar wasps, it hunts substantial prey, including beetles, mantises, other wasps and bees. Workers chew captured insects into a paste to feed developing larvae, because adult hornets mainly consume liquids.

Colonies may nest underground in abandoned rodent tunnels or near decaying tree roots. When attacking a honey-bee colony, scouts can recruit nest-mates with chemical signals. A small group of hornets can overwhelm a colony because their size, armor and powerful mandibles make ordinary bee stings relatively ineffective.

The species became widely known in North America through the sensational nickname “murder hornet.” The Entomological Society of America adopted “northern giant hornet” as an alternative common name in 2022, but Asian giant hornet remains a standard and widely accepted name.