The hornet (lat. Vespa crabro) is the largest native wasp species and can grow up to 35 millimeters long. The strikingly colored insect belongs to the family of wasps and forms comparatively small colonies. Hornets hunt other insects, which they also like to do at night.

Hornets are also out at night

Table of Contents

Show all
  1. Are hornets nocturnal?
  2. When do hornets fly?
  3. frequently asked Questions
    • Hornets are particularly active between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m., but occasionally fly throughout the night
    • The reasons for this are probably that hornet larvae are also fed at night and fewer enemies are out and about at night
    • Like other insects, hornets are attracted to light sources, which is why they can come into the apartment at night through open windows

    Are hornets nocturnal?

    In fact, hornets are out not only during the day, but also at dusk and at night. According to a study in which the movement patterns of the animals were recorded with the help of a sensor and a camera, the giant wasps fly more frequently in the summer twilight between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. After that, the flight activities flatten out a bit, so that in the deep night and into the early morning hours only a few animals are still on the move - but the nocturnal activities do not come to a complete standstill.

    Thus, hornets are both diurnal and nocturnal, which in turn distinguishes them from their relatives - the various species of wasps - as well as from bees and bumblebees. These insects fly exclusively during the day and spend the night in their nests.

    Why do hornets also fly at night?

    There are several reasons for these nocturnal activities. One is that the hornet larvae have a great appetite for protein-rich food and are therefore also taken care of at night - although not as often as during the day, but there are no real resting phases in the hornet's nest. A hornet colony consumes around half a kilogram of insects a day during its peak phase in late summer! And since the state is not particularly large with an average of 400 to 700 animals, hunting has to be done at all times.

    Furthermore, the danger from enemies - hornets are a coveted prey for many birds - is lower at night than during the day, and competitors for food (birds again) are also inactive at this time. But there are plenty of nocturnal insects such as the moths already mentioned.

    Light sources attract hornets

    Hornets are attracted to light sources

    Moths and other nocturnal insects are magically attracted to light. This also applies to hornets flying at night, which always orientate themselves on existing light sources and can therefore get lost in the apartment in summer. Like all nocturnal insects, hornets use the moon, the brightest point in nature, to orientate themselves in the twilight or darkness. This appears to be motionless in the sky and is therefore very well suited as a fixed point: the insects always maintain an angle of about 40 degrees to the moon and thus manage to fly straight ahead. At night, unlike during the day, the animals do not see particularly well.

    However, if an artificial light suddenly appears - such as a lamp or lantern - the insect takes this as a point of orientation and flies towards the light. Unfortunately, such light sources are much denser than the distant celestial body and are therefore not suitable for correctly determining the trajectory. However, the hornet does not know this and ends up in your apartment in no time at all.

    Hornet flies into the apartment, what to do?

    Now the hornet is suddenly buzzing around your apartment and can't find its way out. Please do not reach for your slipper or a newspaper to finish off the animal - hornets are rare and are protected. According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG), the animals may neither be killed nor captured. For the same reason, auxiliary measures such as insect spray or hair spray are also prohibited, especially since both represent a very painful way of killing the animals. But don't worry, with a simple trick you can still lure the hornet back outside:

    • Open the room window wide.
    • Place a light source (e.g. a candle) on the outer window sill.
    • If the room is adjacent to a balcony, you can also place the light here.
    • Turn off the light in the room.
    • Wait.

    After a while, the hornet will orient itself towards the new light source and fly outside again. Now close the window and only then switch the light on again. Alternatively - and if you're feeling really brave - just wait for the hornet to land on an easily accessible surface. Now quickly put a glass over the animal and slide a piece of cardboard over the opening. Take the jar outside with the hornet and release the insect there.

    If a hornet gets lost in the apartment, keep calm

    How to keep hornets out of your home

    However, you can also reliably keep the animals from wandering about by closing the window openings with insect screens. This also has the advantage that you can switch on the light in summer even with the window open and do not have to fear an invasion of nocturnal insects. Hornets also dislike the scent of certain plants and avoid them. So place the potted plants listed below on the windowsill:

    • lemon balm
    • lavender
    • basil
    • peppermint

    Furthermore, hornets do not particularly like tomatoes and incense, although both species are usually too large to be kept on the windowsill. But they are well suited for a pot culture on the balcony or terrace.

    digression

    Are hornets dangerous?

    Do you know the old saying "Three hornet bites kill a man, seven kill a horse"? This is an old wives tale without any truth content. In fact, hornets are quite peaceful creatures and will leave you alone as long as you don't make frantic, waving or even attacking movements near them. Hornets are not interested in humans or their food (quite unlike the common wasp). The sting is no more dangerous than that of a wasp or bee, only those allergic to wasp venom have to be careful. Since wasp and hornet venom are chemically very similar, reactions can occur here.

    When do hornets fly?

    “Hornets scare a lot of people. But that is completely unnecessary, as these animals are not very aggressive and tend to flee.”

    Depending on the weather, the hornet year begins between April and May, when the queens emerge from their winter quarters and start looking for a suitable nesting site. The first workers do not fly out until June, as they first have to hatch and develop into an adult animal. The hornet colony finally experiences its peak phase in late summer, when around 400 to 700 animals may populate the nest and then there is hectic activity there.

    From about the end of August until September, the male animals, called drones, and the newly hatched young queens fly out on their mating flight. In October, but no later than November, the last workers, the old queen and the drones die. During the course of the day, hornets have two peak flight phases in which the animals are particularly busy: The first phase is around midday, the second at dusk until the early hours of the night.

    This very nice contribution from a beekeeper explains how a hornet lives and provides other interesting information.

    youtube

    Do hornets actually sleep?

    Given that hornets are out and about practically day and night during the summer months, the question arises, do the animals never sleep? In fact, it seems that the giant wasps don't need any sleep or rest periods. In any case, neither the workers nor the drones live very long: the maximum lifespan of these animals is four weeks, while their queen is the only one that can live for around a year. This short span must of course be used, which is why sleep is superfluous and only robs life time. Only in the very early hours of the morning does it come to a very short standstill in the nest, where almost all the animals pause for about half a minute to a minute and don't even move their feelers.

    What do hornets do in winter?

    Almost the entire hornet colony dies off in the fall. All that remains are the young queens that hatched in late summer or autumn, who look for suitable winter quarters after mating has taken place. The animals like to burrow into the ground, but they also use piles of wood or cavities. Many a hornet has hibernated in a stack of firewood and then woke up early in the living room when the wood was carried to the fireplace.

    digression

    What do hornets do in cooler weather?

    Basically, hornets are more active on warm and sunny days, while flight movements decrease significantly on cooler days. The reason for this is the fact that both the workers and the drones "heat" the nest on such days. To do this, the animals huddle together in the center and generate heat with tiny movements of their wings. So busy, of course, they have less time to go hunting outside.

    frequently asked Questions

    There is a hornet's nest outside my window. How do I get rid of this?

    First of all: You are not allowed to remove the nest yourself, nor to smoke it out or kill the animals in any other way. Hornets are protected species, so you need a good reason and government approval to remove the nest. You can usually apply for this at the lower nature conservation authority in your community. In addition, the nest should always be relocated by a specialist.

    Hornet, wasp or bee: How do I distinguish the individual species from each other?

    Hornets are the largest wasp species in Central Europe and are also strikingly yellow-reddish in color. These two characteristics alone make it easy to distinguish them from their relatives, the wasps. Bees, on the other hand, are even smaller and also rather brownish in color.

    How can I drive away hornets?

    You must not kill or capture hornets or damage their nest. However, you can try to prevent the queen from building a nest in the spring or use gentle means to drive the animals away. Some essential scents work very well for this purpose, such as clove oil, lavender oil, or lemon balm oil.

    tips

    In the spring, keep an eye out for a queen hornet flying in and out somewhere. If so, she builds her nest there. At this point, close all entry holes, of course only when the animal is outside again.

Category:

Animals in the garden