Query : hornets attracted to light but not wasps

Chuck Twombly wizatozs at cdsnet.net
Tue Dec 29 00:54:33 EST 1998


I hate to tell you this but hornets and wasp are the same, family vespidae.
They are all carnivorous and they may be showing up because of the food source.
The Baldfaced hornet is actually a yellowjacket.

"Prichard,AW,NAR7 PRICHAA2 M" wrote:

> Hi
>
> My experience from moth trapping is that many more hornets turn up at the UV
> lights than ordinary wasps. This year has been noticeably bad (good?) for
> hornets in that sometimes we have had over 50 hornets in each of several
> traps at sites. Whereas wasps although they have been very common during the
> day only seem to turn up at light very occasionally in ones or twos.
>
> I presume that hornets are still active and flying around at night whereas
> wasps aren't as a rule. Does anyone have any idea why there is a difference
> in the behaviour between the two? What are they getting up to at this time
> of the day - looking for food?
>
> Regards
>
> Tony Prichard
> Suffolk, UK


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