Hello and please identify this hornet :-)

[gruntygiggles]

We are getting lots in the house. Always the upstairs living room, never downstairs thankfully as I don't want the dogs trying to catch them.

This is one of the smaller of the ones we've had in...about 1.5-1.7 inches long. The longest was about 2inches going by placing my thumb alongside and then measuring my thumb.

Here's the picture...



They are very loud and always come in through the same window (now shut) so I will be going to search for a nest soon, but the window they are coming into is second story but at the back of the house and we live on a hill, so this window is actually much higher off the ground and just above the tops of the large mature trees we have in the garden if that helps at all.

Any help much appreciated. I think they are amazing, but as my boyfriend is allergic, want to know what we are dealing with.

Thanks

[Jason Claxton]

That looks like a Hornet.Vespa crabro.They are generally quite passive.

Cheers Jason.

[gruntygiggles]

Thanks Jason. Is there a difference between british and eurpean hornets? I'm not sure, but it's got a bigger head than most hornets I've seen.

As for nature....they have all been very docile, just buzz in, fly around and crawl the windows a bit and off they go again. Not at all bothered by me sizing it and taking pictures :-)

[eucera]

Hi

There are 3 species of Hornets in Europe:
Vespa crabro
V. orientalis
and the introduced alien invasive V. velutina

Only V. crabro occurs in UK (despite alarm stories from the usual quarters about the arrival of V. velutina).

V. crabro has a distinctive UK colour form, with the back of the head yellow (as in your pic). This is ssp. gribodoi.

The continental colour form has a brown area at the back of the head and is referred to as ssp. vexator

[gruntygiggles]

Thank you, that's just what I was hoping for.

I'm going to just continue enjoying them when they decide to come and buzz around for a bit :-)