Queens reach 5 cm long with a 7.5+ cm wingspan — the largest hornet on Earth.
Asian Giant Hornet
Vespa mandarinia
Slaughters whole bee colonies in hours. Wears a sting that breaks down flesh.
Curated and rated by Sheriff Six-Legs and The Wild Pest field team · Six Legs Score™ (86/100, Outlaw tier) · Published Apr 25, 2026 · Updated Apr 28, 2026 · Released CC BY 4.0
86Six Legs
Six Legs Score™
86 / 100
The world's largest hornet — up to 5 cm long — and one of the few insects capable of slaughtering an entire honeybee colony in hours. The 2019–2021 'murder hornet' panic in the Pacific Northwest cemented it as a global brand of insect dread. Body size, sting potency, raid behavior, and recent media moment all rate it apex.
Size
Workers 35–40 mm; queens up to 50 mm
Lifespan
Workers ~1 month; queens up to 1 year
Range
Native to East Asia; eradicated populations in Pacific NW
Diet
Larvae: meat from raided beehives. Adults: nectar, sap, larva-secreted fluid.
Found in
Forest edges, low mountainous areas
On the Range
Field guide
Vespa mandarinia is the largest hornet on Earth, with queens reaching 5 cm in length and a wingspan over 7.5 cm. Native to East Asia and naturalized in parts of the Pacific Northwest since 2019, the species is famous for its 'slaughter phase' raids on honeybee colonies: a small group of 20–30 hornets can kill an entire colony of 30,000 bees in a few hours, decapitating the bees one by one and then occupying the hive to harvest the brood. Native Japanese honeybees (Apis cerana japonica) have evolved a striking countermeasure — they engulf invading hornet scouts in a 'thermal ball,' raising the internal temperature to 47°C and suffocating the hornet via heat and CO₂. Western honeybees (Apis mellifera), introduced for commercial beekeeping, lack this defense and are devastated by raids. The hornet's sting injects a complex venom containing mandaratoxin, which can dissolve human tissue at the sting site. Approximately 30–50 people die from Asian giant hornet stings each year in Japan, primarily through anaphylaxis or kidney failure from the venom load.
7 wild facts on file
A raid party of 20–30 Asian giant hornets can decapitate an entire honeybee colony of 30,000 bees in under three hours.
JournalJournal of Apicultural ResearchShare →
Native Japanese honeybees defend by mobbing a scout hornet into a 'thermal ball' that reaches 47°C — hot enough to cook the hornet alive without harming the bees.
JournalNature1995Share →
Asian giant hornet venom contains mandaratoxin, a peptide that can dissolve human tissue at the sting site.
JournalToxicon1981Share →
30–50 people die annually from Asian giant hornet stings in Japan — most from systemic venom load, not anaphylaxis.
JournalJournal of ToxicologyShare →
Justin Schmidt's pain index rates the Asian giant hornet's sting as 'like having a hot nail driven into your leg.'
JournalSchmidt Sting Pain IndexShare →
First detected in North America in 2019 in British Columbia. As of 2024, eradication efforts in Washington State were declared successful.
Cultural file
Known in Japan as ōsuzumebachi (大雀蜂, 'great sparrow bee') for its size. In Japan and Korea, hornet larvae and pupae are eaten — fried, in rice balls, or steeped in spirits. The species' arrival in the Pacific Northwest in 2019 generated the 'murder hornet' news cycle that defined a moment in pandemic-era anxiety. The Wild Pest team in Metro Vancouver was directly involved in the early-warning detection effort.
Sources
AgencyWashington State Dept. of Agriculture — Asian Giant HornetJournalNature — Thermal defence by Apis cerana japonica1995
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