| The Hornet (Vespa crabro) at Eakring | ||
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By any standards, the
Hornet is one of our most impressive and imposing
insects. Workers have a length of nearly 3.5cm, which
means it is by far the largest species of wasp found in
the UK. It is also quite uncommon, but has increased it's range during recent years following a succession of mild Winters. The south-east UK is still perhaps it's real stronghold, but it can now be encountered just about anywhere in Nottinghamshire. Personal experience regarding the Hornet's distribution in the county (based on casual sightings since the 1980's) has found that the Sherwood Forest area, is one of the best places to see them. But I also found a nest in an old Elm tree on the Nottingham Arboretum. |
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| At the time, this was the UK's most northerly Hornet nest on record and it was donated (on subsequent removal) to the Natural History Museum at Wollaton Hall. Only on one occasion since 1998, have I recorded Hornets here and that record related to a lone Queen noted flying in the Red Hill area, just north of the village. The realisation that there was an active nest here in 2003, came about when two workers were noted flying in the same direction away from Eakring Flash. A search of the Lound Wood area, quickly found another feeding on Apples and when that left for the nest, it was easy to track down. | ||
| Nests are always found
within dead or decaying trees. The entrance hole to this
nest was small (about 2.5cm) and closer inspection
revealed that it had indeed been made smaller by the
workers. Workers were observed arriving at the nest at a
rate of about one every two minutes, so the colony seems
quite large in population and as to be expected at the
time of writing (August) is probably at it's peak of
activity. October - Hornet's nest revisited By mid-October, the daily temperature was low enough to enable a closer (and safe) inspection of the nest cavity. Worker activity was confined to just one or two sluggish individuals, that remained faithful to the now largely deserted nest. |
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Below and to the right of
the nest entrance, the tree was completely hollow and the
actual nest was clearly visible. The whole nest was
constructed by the workers from chewed wood and then
mixed with saliva to form a pulp. Different sources/types
of wood used in the nest construction, can be seen as
"strata" within the hexagonal-shaped cells. The layers of cells were typically arranged, each new layer being suspended from the previous layer, by a thick central support - with the nest increasing in size as the population grows throughout the Summer months. The bottom (hence newest) layer, is by far the smallest and readily visble in the left-hand photograph. |
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| Several outer
layers enclose the nest. These afforded added protection
to the cells from the elements, although none of this
nest was readily open to the weather, due to it's
sighting. Hornet sub-species There are several sub-species of the Hornet found throughout Europe, with Vespa crabro vexator (Harris 1776) occurring in the UK. For those requiring more about the life-cycle of the Hornet, then a visit to Dieter Kosmeier's site www.hornissenschutz.com is a must. Though this is primarily a German website, there is an English version available. |
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