Not everybody's favourite insect, the hornet, but this particular species, the European hornet (Vespa crabro), hoornaar in Dutch, is far less agressive than the common wasp, and they will leave you well alone if you don't bother them.
Here's a queen, feeding on oak sap before she starts a new nest, which she will never leave once she's settled in:
Olympus XZ-1, 112mm, ISO100, f8, 1/125s
Size differences between workers and queens:
Olympus XZ-1, 112mm, ISO400, f4, 1/40s
Checking an oak tree for a place to get sap:
Olympus Stylus 1s, 300mm, ISO800, f5.6, 1/250s
Olympus Stylus 1s, 300mm, ISO800, f5.6, 1/250s
Filleting a prey to feed the little ones (yes, hornets hunt other insects):
Olympus XZ-1, 112mm, ISO100, f6.3, 1/200s
And finally the wondrous nest entrance:
Olympus Stylus 1s, 265mm, ISO400, f8, 1/100s
They will warn you by doing loud fly-pasts when you come too close to their nest, but they will only attack you if you ignore those warnings instead of step back.
Thanks for watching!
Not to be mistaken with the Asian Hornet, an exotic invader that kills off the European bee hives that have no defence against them. And should be reported and taken care off, in Europe ofcourse.
I once saw a European hornet grabbing a similar looking wasp, the size difference was huge. And they don't annoy you at BBQ's ;-)
কাহ
oh. that's loud fly-pasts. i do sometime experiance it. Thanks for the tips :)
Awsome click photo 💕 keep it up 💕
nice shot buddy
Very nice! Non-hyper-aggressive hornets... must be nice. :P
inspired me to see this photo .. nice picture
Amazing photos of the hornet. My favorite is the hornet with the prey.