---
title: "European Hornet"
description: "Vespa crabro — Insetti e ragni. The European hornet (Vespa crabro) is the largest eusocial wasp native to Europe."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/european-hornet
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# European Hornet

> Vespa crabro — Insetti e ragni. The European hornet (Vespa crabro) is the largest eusocial wasp native to Europe.

- Scientific name: *Vespa crabro*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `forest` (Foresta)
- iNaturalist observations: 82087
- Wikidata: [Q30258](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30258)
- iNaturalist taxon: [54327](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54327)

## Names

- en: European Hornet
- de: Hornisse
- es: Avispón europeo
- fr: Frelon européen
- nl: Hoornaar
- pl: Szerszeń europejski

## Countries with the most observations

US (19350), DE (9655), BE (7410), GB (5686), FR (5137), IT (4493), RU (3628), AT (3418), CA (2394), DK (2087), CZ (1452), PL (1342)

## Summary

The European hornet (Vespa crabro) is the largest eusocial wasp native to Europe. It is also the only true hornet (genus Vespa) found in North America, having been introduced to the United States and Canada from Europe as early as 1840. Vespines, such as V. crabro, are known for making intricate paper-like nests out of surrounding plant materials and other fibers. Unlike most other vespines, reproductive suppression involves worker policing instead of queen pheromone control, as was previously thought.
This species stings in response to being stepped on or grabbed, but generally avoids conflict. It is also defensive…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hornet

## Photo

![European Hornet](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/european-hornet/medium.jpg)

Photo: Vespa-Watch · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/30373401

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/european-hornet?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).