European Hornet with honeybee prey
Vespa crabro
European Hornet · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 26 July 2026
A European Hornet at the flowers in the July border with a honeybee it has just caught. The hornet is a European import, established in the eastern United States since the 1840s, and it nests in hollow trees and wall cavities in exactly this kind of wooded garden.
European Hornets hunt other insects to feed their larvae and will take honeybees directly off flowers or even off the front of a hive, biting off the wings and legs before flying the body home. Reddish-brown and considerably larger than any native wasp, and despite the reputation, not aggressive to people away from the nest.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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