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Description
Just something to celebrate National Hornet Day, the day when we stop and show some appreciation (and maybe some respect, if not love) for the (in)famous, slightly dangerous, and highly social insects that we know all too well. I know what you're thinking, 'Dude, why would there be a day to celebrate hornets for?! Hornets are intrusive, creepy, dangerous, and nasty! They also sting and swarm over us for no reason!' While it's true that hornets can be serious pests since they swarm at us and they can sting, but let's not forget that they are successful insects in their own right and part of the ecosystem, believe it or not. I assure you that they have some qualities worth noting:

1. Hornets are eusocial (which is the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups), which means they work, fight, eat, and live as one.
2. Hornets belong to a genus, called Vespa, in the Vespidae family.
3. Hornets live mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, mostly in Asia and Europe.
4. Hornets are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives, yellowjackets..
5. Hornets use their stingers to to kill prey and defend nests.
6. Hornets may feed themselves with nectar and sugar-rich plant foods, but they also attack various insects (which include honey bees, grasshoppers, locusts, and katydids), which they kill with stings and jaws.
7. Hornets usually use their stingers for either self-defense or to catch their prey.
8. Larvae of hornets produce a sweet secretion, which contains sugars and amino acids that is consumed by both the workers and queens.
9. hornets are known to invade and attack honeybee hives, killing the bees inside and feeding the casualties, the larva, and even the honey spoils to their larva. The Hornets' ability to prey upon honey bees, however, is favored by a number of adaptations.
10. The Asian giant hornet has one of the most venomous known, being thought to cause 30–50 human deaths annually in Japan.
11. Adult male hornets do not participate in maintaining the nest, foraging, or caretaking of the larvae. Yet in early to mid-autumn, they leave the nest and mate during "nuptial flights".
12. Unlike a honeybee, when a hornet stings, it doesn’t die. That’s because the stinger doesn’t break off, so the hornet (unfortunately) can sting a lot more times.
13. What makes an Asian giant hornet’s sting so dangerous is the venom produced from its stinger. So, while one sting wouldn’t kill you, a set of multiple stings from this hornet might!
14. If a hornet is killed near the nest/hive, it’ll produce pheromones for other hornets to follow and prepare to attack the offender.
15. Despite some of them being dangerous invaders in certain places, hornets are important for the ecosystem as pollinators, predators (to keep populations of certain insect species in check, especially unwanted garden pests that damage resources within an agricultural setting), and prey (which they are food for plenty of animals, which includes birds, badgers, bears, raccoons, skunks, hedgehogs, and even us, since there are some people who eat the larva, or even the hornets themselves).

Whether you love them or hate them, they're just animals trying to survive and thrive (and they can be very good at it, if not caught by a predator). So, why not just show some appreciation and respect for them for the highly social stinging insects they are, maybe just for once? Anyway, Happy National Hornet Day, everyone (from these dangerous-looking stingers gathered here).

(Note: Since it's on the 16th of April, forgive me if this late, I had a lot of things to do yesterday.)

Description
Just something to celebrate National Hornet Day, the day when we stop and show some appreciation (and maybe some respect, if not love) for the (in)famous, slightly dangerous, and highly social insects that we know all too well. I know what you're thinking, 'Dude, why would there be a day to celebrate hornets for?! Hornets are intrusive, creepy, dangerous, and nasty! They also sting and swarm over us for no reason!' While it's true that hornets can be serious pests since they swarm at us and they can sting, but let's not forget that they are successful insects in their own right and part of the ecosystem, believe it or not. I assure you that they have some qualities worth noting:

1. Hornets are eusocial (which is the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups), which means they work, fight, eat, and live as one.
2. Hornets belong to a genus, called Vespa, in the Vespidae family.
3. Hornets live mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, mostly in Asia and Europe.
4. Hornets are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives, yellowjackets..
5. Hornets use their stingers to to kill prey and defend nests.
6. Hornets may feed themselves with nectar and sugar-rich plant foods, but they also attack various insects (which include honey bees, grasshoppers, locusts, and katydids), which they kill with stings and jaws.
7. Hornets usually use their stingers for either self-defense or to catch their prey.
8. Larvae of hornets produce a sweet secretion, which contains sugars and amino acids that is consumed by both the workers and queens.
9. hornets are known to invade and attack honeybee hives, killing the bees inside and feeding the casualties, the larva, and even the honey spoils to their larva. The Hornets' ability to prey upon honey bees, however, is favored by a number of adaptations.
10. The Asian giant hornet has one of the most venomous known, being thought to cause 30–50 human deaths annually in Japan.
11. Adult male hornets do not participate in maintaining the nest, foraging, or caretaking of the larvae. Yet in early to mid-autumn, they leave the nest and mate during "nuptial flights".
12. Unlike a honeybee, when a hornet stings, it doesn’t die. That’s because the stinger doesn’t break off, so the hornet (unfortunately) can sting a lot more times.
13. What makes an Asian giant hornet’s sting so dangerous is the venom produced from its stinger. So, while one sting wouldn’t kill you, a set of multiple stings from this hornet might!
14. If a hornet is killed near the nest/hive, it’ll produce pheromones for other hornets to follow and prepare to attack the offender.
15. Despite some of them being dangerous invaders in certain places, hornets are important for the ecosystem as pollinators, predators (to keep populations of certain insect species in check, especially unwanted garden pests that damage resources within an agricultural setting), and prey (which they are food for plenty of animals, which includes birds, badgers, bears, raccoons, skunks, hedgehogs, and even us, since there are some people who eat the larva, or even the hornets themselves).

Whether you love them or hate them, they're just animals trying to survive and thrive (and they can be very good at it, if not caught by a predator). So, why not just show some appreciation and respect for them for the highly social stinging insects they are, maybe just for once? Anyway, Happy National Hornet Day, everyone (from these dangerous-looking stingers gathered here).

(Note: Since it's on the 16th of April, forgive me if this late, I had a lot of things to do yesterday.)