Vespa ducalis

Vespa ducalis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Vespidae
Genus:	Vespa
Species:	V. ducalis
Binomial name
	Vespa ducalis; Smith, 1852
Synonyms
	Vespa matsumurai Sonan, 1935; Vespa esakii Sonan, 1935; Vespa pulchra Buysson, 1905;

Vespa ducalis, the black-tailed hornet, is a hornet and an insect in the genus Vespa. It was described by Smith in 1852. In Japan, it is called himesuzumebachi (姫雀蜂, literally: princess sparrow bee)

Description

It has a body length of between 24 and 37 mm with a distinctive black tail. Fully grown, it can be only slightly smaller than the Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) which has a body length of 45 mm.

Distribution

It is found in Asia in places such as China (mainland), Hong Kong, India (northeast part), Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar, Nepal, Siberia in Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam (north and central part).

Behaviour

The larvae of Vespa ducalis basically only eat the pupae and larvae of paper wasps and so adult Vespa ducalis will often attack the nests of paper wasps and hunt the larvae, while ignoring the adults. They will habitually return to the same target colony to raid it.