Asian giant hornet ? Asian Giant Hornet Scientific classification Kingdom : Animalia Phylum : Arthropoda Class : Insecta Order : Hymenoptera Family : Vespidae Genus : Vespa Species : V. mandarinia Binomial name Vespa mandarinia Smith , 1852 For general information see hornet , and the related European hornet . The Asian giant hornet ( Vespa mandarinia , known colloquially as the Yak Killer hornet ) , the world 's largest wasp , is a native of temperate and tropical Eastern Asia . Its body length is between 27 mm ( 1.1 inches ) and 45 mm ( 1.8 inches ) , with a wingspan of about 76 mm ( 3 inches ) . Queens may reach a length of 55 mm ( 2.2 inches ) . Anatomy The head of the hornet is orange and quite wide in comparison to other hornet species . The compound eyes and ocelli are dark brown , and the antennae are dark brown with orange scapes . The clypeus ( the shield-like plate on the front of the head ) is orange and coarsely punctured ; the posterior side of the clypeus has narrow , rounded lobes . The mandible is large and orange with a black tooth ( inner biting surface ) . The thorax and propodeum ( the segment which forms the posterior part of the thorax ) of the Asian giant hornet has a distinctive golden tint and a large scutellum ( a shield-like scale on the thorax ) that has a deeply-impressed medial line ; the postscutellum ( the plate behind the scutellum ) bulges and overhangs the propodeum . The hornet 's forelegs are orange with dark brown tarsi ( the distal - furthest down - part of the leg ) ; the midlegs and hindlegs are dark brown . Wings are a dark brownish-gray . The tegulae are brown . The gaster ( the portion of the abdomen behind the thorax - abdomen connection ) is dark brown with a white , powdery covering ; with narrow yellow bands at the posterior margins of the tergite , the sixth segment is entirely yellow . Geographic distribution It can be found in Primorsky Krai , Korea , China , Taiwan ( where it is called the `` tiger bee '' ) , Indochina , Nepal , India and Sri Lanka , but is most common in Japanese mountains . `` Hornets From Hell '' Sting The stinger of the Asian giant hornet is about a quarter-inch ( 6 mm ) in length , and injects an especially potent venom that contains an enzyme so strong that it can dissolve human tissue . Masato Ono , an entomologist at Tamagawa University near Tokyo , described the sensation as feeling `` like a hot nail through my leg. '' . If a person is stung by the giant hornet and does not receive prompt medical treatment , he or she may die from a reaction to the venom . About 40 people die each year after being stung by giant hornets , mainly as a result of an allergic reaction to the venom . A couple of interesting notes on Vespa mandarinia ' s venom and stinger : The venom contains 5% acetylcholine , which stimulates the pain nerve fibres more than bee or other wasp venoms , so that it is a bit more painful . The venom is optimized to kill bees , which are the V. mandarinia ' s natural prey . This means that while the venom may be a bit more painful to vertebrates , it is actually less toxic . Like all hornets , V. mandarinia possesses a barbless stinger , allowing it to sting repeatedly , as it does when preying on bees and other insects . Predation The Asian giant hornet is a relentless hunter that preys on other large insects such as bees , other hornet species , and praying mantises . The hornets often attack honeybee hives with the goal of obtaining the honeybee larvae . The hornets can devastate a colony of honeybees : a single hornet can kill as many as 40 honeybees per minute ; it takes only a few of these hornets a few hours to exterminate the population of a 30 , 000-member honeybee hive , leaving a trail of severed insect heads and limbs . Once a hive is emptied of all defending bees , the hornets carry the honeybee larvae back to feed to their own larvae . Rather than consume their kills directly , the hornets chew them into a paste and feed them to their larvae ( adult hornets being unable to digest solid protein ) . The hornet larvae , in return , produce a clear liquid liquid called vespa amino acid mixture , or VAAM , which the adults consume [ citation needed ] . Native Honeybees Japanese honeybees ( Apis cerana japonica ) forming a `` bee ball '' in which two hornets ( Vespa simillima xanthoptera ) are engulfed and being heated . Although a handful of Asian giant hornets can easily defeat the defenses of honeybees , whose correspondingly small sting cannot inflict much damage against such a large predator as the giant hornet , the Japanese honeybee ( Apis cerana japonica ) has evolved an ingenious method of defending against the much larger predator . When a hornet scout locates a Japanese honeybee hive and approaches the nest , the scout will emit specific pheromonal hunting signals . When the honeybees detect these pheromones , a hundred or so honeybees will gather near the entrance of the nest , apparently to draw the hornet further into the hive . As the hornet enters the nest , a large mob of about five hundred honeybees surround the hornet , completely covering it and preventing it from moving , and begin quickly vibrating their flight muscles . This has the effect of raising the temperature of the honeybee mass to 47 °C ( 117 °F ) . Though the honeybees can tolerate such a temperature , it is fatal to the intruder , which can handle a maximum temperature of about 45 °C ( 113 °F ) , and is effectively baked to death by the large mass of vibrating bees . The hornet and the Japanese diet In Japan 's mountain villages , the hornets are valued as part of the basic diet . They are eaten deep fried or as a kind of hornet sashimi . Hornet supplement manufacturers Recently several companies in Asia and Europe have begun to manufacture dietary supplements and energy drinks supposedly ( but not ) containing the secretions of the larvae of Vespa mandarinia , which the adult hornets usually consume . The manufacturers of these products make unsubstantiated claims that consuming the larval hornet secretions ( marketed as `` hornet juice '' ) will enhance human endurance because the adult hornet can fly 60 miles in a single day at 25 MPH . Note that these `` supplements '' are not really made from hornets at all , but synthesized from , e.g. , according to Vaam : `` Diet Amino is composed of : Maltodextrin , Betacarotene , Amino Acids ( Proline , Lysine , Leucine , Valine , Isoleucine , Alanine ) , Vitamin E , Vitamin B1 , Flavoring , Acidifier , Sweetener ( Stevia , Sucrose ) `` . There is no medical evidence that these have any effect , but as `` supplements '' rather than pharmaceuticals , they do not have to prove their claims . Notes ^ a   b `` Hornets From Hell '' Offer Real-Life Fright . External links The Asian Giant Hornet Yellowjackets and hornets `` Hornets From Hel l '' , National Geographic News Heat Tolerance as a Weapon 30 Hornets Slaughtering 30 , 000 European Honey Bees Categories : Articles with unsourced statements | Vespoidea In other languages : Deutsch | Polski pink Asian Giant Hornet Vespa-mandariniaH.71.jpg 250px Animalia Arthropoda Insecta Hymenoptera Vespidae Vespa V. mandarinia Vespa mandarinia Smith , 1852 For general information see hornet , and the related European hornet 100% 