Hornet in moth trap?

naturegirl · #1 (**permalink**) 17-07-2008, 02:40 PM

I found a dead hornet? in my moth trap yesterday. It is 2.5cm long which is pretty big by my standard! I have found hornets in my trap before and they are always dead, not sure why?

I believe we now have Frelons here, a French Hornet which is larger than our indigenous ones. They are beautiful creatures and not at all aggressive if left alone.

I am always very careful in picking the egg boxes up from my trap in case there is a wasp, bee, spider or anything else potentially harmful (to me) on it.

Naturegirl

RobinP · #2 (**permalink**) 17-07-2008, 03:07 PM

Any chance of a pic (of the hornet

) naturegirl?

mrs fish · #3 (**permalink**) 17-07-2008, 03:37 PM

A pic would be good as it could be a Hornet Moth

eucera · #4 (**permalink**) 17-07-2008, 04:56 PM

Hornets are regularly trapped in Moth traps and almost invariably fail to survive. I have watched them attempt repeatedly to escape but in the end, they succumb with complete exhaustion.

Interested to hear that the "Frelon" is here. This is, of course, a direct translation into French of the word "Hornet". In France there are 2 indigenous Hornets (Vespa crabro - which is also in UK; and V. orientalis - a Mediterranean species). In the last few years, an alien species, Vespa velutina, has established itself in western France after accidental introduction into the Bordeaux area. Despite spreading in France, there have been no records at all of it in UK that I know of. It is very similar in size to the UK native Hornet, V. crabro. If anyone has any evidence of its presence here I should certainly like to know!

None of these should be confused with the spectacular Oriental Hornet, Vespa mandarinia - a giant species. Despite the usual unsubstantiated reports following a BBC documentary on them a while back, the nearest confirmed living colony of these is probably no closer than Bangladesh (ie further away than the nearest population of wild Tigers)

Jason Green · #5 (**permalink**) 17-07-2008, 05:15 PM

naturegirl - a picture would be great!

Eucera - Was this the same documentary where they would tie a feather to one chewing a leaf, watch where it went, smoke the poor things to death and eat the nest?

Anyone - Moth traps: Apart from the obvious, do they literally comprise of just a bulb and a one way door? I'd be interested in getting one...

naturegirl · #6 (**permalink**) 17-07-2008, 06:07 PM

Thanks for all that Guys!

I keep all dead insects and moths

as they are useful to show people/children at Kent Goes Wild, an annual event run by the Kent Wildlife Trust. I man the moth table with a couple of moth-buddies, great fun!

This year it is at Shorne Country park near Medway in September. The reptile & bat groups are always there along with anything to do with flora and fauna of all types.

I suppose moth traps (mine is a Robinsons) are a sort of one way door, although some do find their way out.

I would love to take a picture guys but I still haven't got a memory card for my camera. Since someone wrote my car off a few weeks ago I find it difficult to travel to town but I WILL get one soon, promise!

Eucera, I have all dead hornets still so maybe I can get them identified somehow? I will try and Google the names you have given and see what I can find out, thanks for the info.

Also, my pc crashes when I try and open any pictures online, it says 'Internet explorer has stopped working' and closes all the web down, any ideas?

Naturegirl

Jason Green · #7 (**permalink**) 17-07-2008, 06:35 PM

Naturegirl - Mine does 'Internet Exploer Has Stopped Working' and closes as well, sometimes on Messenger. I guess yours is Vista as well?

I imagine the pictures you're referring to are WAB ones?, and trying to open in new windows? If so, try right-clicking and using the second option down, Open Link in New Tab. This is what I ALWAYS do.

Re: The write-off - I hope you weren't in the car when it happened!

RE Cards: Try buying online. Obviously a site with Charity status can't be seen to be Advertising so I could PM you if you like.

Take care,

Jason

naturegirl · #8 (**permalink**) 17-07-2008, 06:50 PM

Yes Jason, I too have Vista.

I've had loads of problems with it, especially in the early days as nothing was compatable to it, drivers, broadband etc.

Yes, the piccys on here do that so I shall try your tip, thanks for that.

Thankfully, I was not in my car when it was hit. I was still in bed as it was the day of my daughter's wedding and i'd been up most of the night preparing her wedding flowers. I still had to deliver the cake to the reception venue in my car that morning (not!) before driving some of the wedding party to the church (not!). luckily my friend drove me to take the cake and the offender's insurance got me a curtesy car very quickly when they knew the circumstances.

The good news is that I have had my books out and the hornet IS Vespa crabro!

Many thanks for your good wishes Jason.

Naturegirl

Jason Green · #9 (**permalink**) 17-07-2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Yes Jason, I too have Vista.

I've had loads of problems with it, especially in the early days as nothing was compatable to it, drivers, broadband etc.

Me too! Have you noticed the processors are less powerful than the ones last used in XPs? (They were up to 3GHz, now they are often 2.2-5GHZ) Also built-in hard-drives are smaller, too. I had issues with Photoshop - I needed a 12mb patch to get it working!

Quote:

Yes, the piccys on here do that so I shall try your tip, thanks for that.

Happy to help...

Quote:

...Thankfully, I was not in my car when it was hit.

That's good.

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Many thanks for your good wishes Jason.

Anytime!