The Asian Giant Hornet is the largest species of Hornet in the world with some queens reaching more than 5cm in length. They are found throughout Eastern Asia, particularly in Japan where they are commonly known as the Giant Sparrow Bee. Find out more!

It is found throughout Eastern Asia in Korea, Taiwan, China, Indochina, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, but they are most commonly found in the mountains of Japan. They are found inhabiting higher altitude forests in both temperate and tropical areas, where there is plenty of food and suitable places to build a nest.

The nest is founded by a fertilised female (known as the queen) who selects a suitably sheltered site such as the hollow trunk of a tree, where she begins to build herself a nest out of chewed up bark. Wasp nests contain a series of single cells which together create the well-known honeycomb affect.

Asian Giant Hornets are known for their fearless and extremely aggressive attitudes. Once having built her nest in the spring, the fertilised queen lays a single egg in each cell which hatch within a week. Asian Giant Hornet Larvae undergo a five-stage changing process known as metamorphosis, in order to get to their adult form. This takes around 14 days by which point the hive has its first generation of workers that ensure that the colony as a whole is well-maintained.

They are also commonly known to kill larger Insects such as Preying Mantises and even other Wasps and Hornets. Adult Asian Giant Hornets are unable to digest solid proteins and instead only eat the fluids from their victims. They are also known to feed their catch to their larvae (particularly the Honeybee Larvae) in the form of a regurgitated paste. The Larvae then secrete a clear liquid which the adults consume, and is thought to give them a bit of an energy boost.