Wasps, hornets, and bees may look similar to the untrained eye, but the three are different in several aspects.All three are winged insects and belong to the order Hymenoptera. While bees are famed for collecting nectar and pollen, hornets and wasps are notorious for their stings.It is pretty common for people to get confused between the three Hymenopterans due to their apparent similarity in physical appearance and stinging behavior. However, a closer study reveals how different the three are from each other. To begin with, hornets and wasps are more aggressive than bees and can pierce their stings multiple times into the victim. Moreover, bees are stouter than wasps and come in various colors, unlike the mostly black and yellow hornets and wasps. What’s more, if all the three battle it out, the bee will most likely lose out to the other two! Interesting, right?There are more fascinating aspects to these buzzing creatures. So, read on to find out more!If you like reading about bees and wasps, do check out these equally interesting reads do hornets make honey and bumble bee vs carpenter bee.Which is more aggressive, wasp or hornet?While most wasps and hornets are generally more hostile than bees, bald-faced hornets are especially known to be more aggressive than wasps.Hornets are very aggressive, especially if anything or anyone invades their space. In this regard, hornets differ from most other stinging insects that usually sting when extremely threatened. The bald-faced hornets (genus Dolichovespula), which are not true hornets but relatives of the yellow jackets and other wasps, have a reputation for their aggressive nature. They have quite a resemblance to their yellow jacket relatives with white-patterned faces and black bodies. The bald-faced hornet is a social insect and lives in colonies, communal nests that they are very defensive over. Even true hornets belonging to the genus Vespa display aggression when their paper nests are under threat. What makes their aggressive nature scarier is that these social insects can mobilize all the nest members to sting in defense, leaving the intruder helpless!Some commonly known wasp species such as yellow jackets, paper wasps, pollen wasps, and potter wasps are social and live in colonies. These social species aggressively defend their nests, and swarm attacks are common, even by a slight trigger such as ground vibrations from a lawnmower. Mud daubers and digger wasps are solitary wasps and are rarely aggressive towards humans or other animals. Solitary wasps nest in the ground and are not as defensive of their homes as the stinging wasps and hornets.Bumblebee Vs Bee Vs Wasp Vs HornetWasps, bees, and hornets have significant differences in physical appearance, nesting patterns, diet, and stinging behavior.While both bumblebees (also spelled bumble-bee) and honey bees are species of bees in the family Apidae, honeybees belong to the genus Apis and bumblebees to the genus Bombus. The best-known bee species is the honey bee.Honeybees vs BumblebeesIn terms of appearance, bumblebees are fuzzy and plump, while honey bees are thinner and relatively smaller. However, the most remarkable difference between the two bee species is in their nesting habits.Honey bees nest in hives, either wild ones built in hollow trees or domesticated colonies kept by beekeepers. One hive consists of one queen bee and thousands of female worker bees, and male drone bees. Contrary to honey bees, bumblebees do not build hives. Instead, they make holes or burrows in the ground and are only found in the wild. Bumblebee colonies are smaller and, unlike honey bees, do not form swarms and can sting repeatedly. Also, bumblebees are not useful for commercial honey production. On the other hand, Honey bees build hexagonal cells called honeycombs, where they store the queen’s eggs, honey, and pollen.Bees Vs Wasps Vs HornetsAppearance: Wasp species such as the yellow jackets and the mud dauber wasp are often confused with bees due to their black and yellow coloring. However, bees and wasps are distinguishable by the narrow waists and pointed lower abdomens wasps have. Unlike bees, wasps are not furry but are rather hairless and smooth. While both bees and wasps are winged insects, wasps fly with their legs dangling, and bees fly with their legs tucked in. Hornets are a particular type of wasp with a more slender body than bees. They are fatter and rounder than a typical wasp and keep their legs tucked during flight. Hornets are generally black and yellow or black and white, like the bald-faced hornet.Nesting patterns: Unlike bumblebees and honey bees that create nests from waxy substances, both wasps and hornets have papery nests made from wood pulp or wood fibers. Like honey bees, the hornet and wasp world, too, has a social hierarchy. The nest of social wasps and hornets has one or more fertilized queens, workers (sterile females), and male drones.Diet: Wasps, bees, and hornets also differ in terms of diet. While bees are herbivores, feeding on nectar and pollen, wasps and hornets are omnivores feeding on flies, caterpillars, and other insects.Stinging behavior: While most bees sting only when bothered, bumblebees are generally more aggressive. Also, female bees and bumblebees can sting multiple times, unlike honey bees, which die after stinging once. Both wasps and hornets are more hostile stinging insects than bees and can sting multiple times, although they usually attack when threatened.Bee Vs Wasp Vs Hornet FightHypothetically speaking, a fight between a bee, a wasp, and a hornet would have the wasp or the hornet as the clear winner.According to the observation of beekeepers, bees, wasps, and hornets would rarely use their stings in a fight with each other because of the small mass of the opponent. Hence, the insects would mostly use their jaws to inflict harm upon one another. Coming to the size, although bees are stouter than wasps or hornets, the latter are better armed in terms of jaws and stings. Wasps and hornets are usually more aggressive and agile than bees and attack other insects, killing them with their stings and powerful jaws. The large size and poisonous nature of the hornet’s sting make the insect capable of killing large insects such as honey bees, locusts, and grasshoppers without much difficulty. In this regard, hornets are great pest control agents since they kill several insect pests.Who would win, wasp vs bee?In a fight between a wasp and a bee, the wasp would have the upper hand due to its aggressive nature.Wasps are more aggressive and agile than bees, making the former a better contender at any time. Besides, wasps are known to attack honey bees and beehives for the honey or to take honey bees as prey. Hornets, a type of wasp, are also known predators of bees. The large size and strong jaws of the bald-faced hornet are enough to behead and crush bees in no time!How to identify yellow jackets vs wasps vs hornets?The yellow jackets, wasps, and hornets can be distinguished by their physical appearance.The yellow jackets are predatory social wasps with two genera, Vespula and Dolichovespula, and are commonly known as wasps. Wasps are usually thin and long, usually with scanty or no hair. They are brightly colored with black and yellow markings throughout their bodies. Hornets are close relatives of the yellow jackets with slight differences in physical features. To begin with, hornets are larger than yellow jackets and have a rounded segment near the abdomen. In other words, hornets are usually fatter and rounder than wasps. Moreover, unlike the black and yellow markings of the wasps, hornets’ bodies have yellow alternating with a shade of brown. The bald-faced hornet is particularly distinctive due to its black and white body markings. Hornets belong to the genus Vespa.Which is more dangerous, a wasp or hornet?Both hornets and wasps can sting, but it gets worse if the victim develops an allergic reaction to the venom.Wasps can sting as well as bite. The female wasps have stingers and will usually sting when their coveted nests are under threat. However, it is only the social wasp species that aggressively defend their colonies. Unlike the acidic bee stings, wasp stings are alkaline. Moreover, wasps can repeatedly sting since their smooth stingers can easily pierce through the skin multiple times without killing the insect itself.If unprovoked, hornets are considered to be less hostile than wasps. However, if a hornet does decide to attack, it can be highly lethal. The hornet stings are deadly due to the sheer size of the insect. So, even if the venom itself is not very toxic, the amount of venom that the hornet injects in one sting is enough to cause harm. Hornets are known to inject way more venom per sting than any other stinging bug! Like wasps, hornets can sting several times without dying.Will wasp and hornet spray kill ground bees?Wasp and hornet sprays are usually lethal to bees as well.Wasp and hornet sprays are insecticides, usually with a combination of synthetic pyrethroids. These synthetic chemicals are modelled after the natural pyrethrins produced by plants and act by impairing the nervous system of the target insect, paralyzing and killing it. However, unlike natural compounds, synthetic pyrethroids are not quickly degraded by sunlight. As a result, they are equally harmful to parasitic wasps and beneficial bee species useful in biological pest control. Synthetic pyrethroids harm fish and aquatic invertebrates as well.Did you know?Although honey bees and bumblebees carry the traditional yellow and black markings, other bees have color variations. For example, female carpenter bees are completely black, and the males are orange to yellow. Also, carpenter bees build nesting galleries in wood, creating tunnels that run several feet in length.The digger wasp and spider wasp are solitary species.The Asian giant hornet sting is one of the deadliest and can severely affect human tissues and the nervous system. Its color form is known as the Japanese hornet.Solitary bees include carpenter bees, sweat bees, digger bees, plasterer bees, and mason bees.The European hornet is one of the most common hornet species in North America, and the only true hornet found there. Although European hornets are native to Europe, they were introduced in America by European settlers in the 19th century.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for bee vs wasp vs hornet, then why not take a look at bee life cycle or wasp symbolism.
Wasps, hornets, and bees may look similar to the untrained eye, but the three are different in several aspects.
