Taxonomy
Vespa crabro queen (left) and worker (right) © Natural History Museum, London
The hornets belong to the insect order Hymenoptera, which include:
- sawflies
- parasitoid wasps
- bees
- social wasps
- ants
The social wasps belong to the family Vespidae, which contains a great many species in 6 subfamilies, 2 of which contain mostly eusocial species.
Within the subfamily Vespinae, 4 genera are recognised:
- Provespa
- Vespa
- Dolichovespula
- Vespula
The 3 species of Provespa are restricted to tropical Asia but the other genera are more widely distributed and species-rich.
The familiar 'yellowjackets' are found in the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula.
