European Hornet Identified For The First Time In Vermont

European Hornet © ckhunt

The first Vermont specimen of the large European hornet was found in the southern part of the state and identified last month by the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. The department says it’s possible the species has been here for a while and only just now been identified. The yellow, black and brown insect is nearly twice the size of Vermont’s more familiar black-and-white baldfaced hornet. The European hornet first appeared in this country when it was inadvertently introduced in the mid-1800s and now ranges from the Northeast into the deep South and west to the Dakotas.

Read more at Vermont Public Radio.