Hornet
Distribution

Hornets are found mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. The European hornet (V. crabro) is the best-known species, widely distributed in Europe (but is never found north of the 63rd parallel), and European Russia (except in extreme northern areas). In the east, the species' distribution area stretches over the Ural Mountains to western Siberia (found in the vicinity of Khanty-Mansiysk). In Asia, the European hornet is found in southern Siberia, as well as in eastern China. The European hornet was accidentally introduced to eastern North America about the middle of the 19th century and has lived there since at about the same latitudes as in Europe. However, it has never been found in western North America.

The Asian giant hornet (V. mandarinia) lives in the Primorsky Krai, Khabarovsky Krai (southern part), and Jewish Autonomous Oblast regions of Russia, and China, Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indochina, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, but is most commonly found in the mountains of Japan, where they are commonly known as the giant sparrow bee.

The Oriental hornet (V. orientalis) occurs in semidry, subtropical areas of central Asia (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Dagestan in Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Oman, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrghyzstan, southern Kazakhstan), and southern Europe (Italy, Malta, Albania, Romania, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus).

The Asian hornet (V. velutina) has been introduced to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
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