hornet

a kind of insect – belongs to wasps –

small with the body divided into three parts, head, thorax and abdomen, six legs, two pairs of transparent wings, two antennae; a small sharp pointed sting at the end of the abdomen; different species with different body colour (mostly bright yellow and black, some kinds are with orange-reddish wings) ; size: ½-1½ inches long; feeds on other insects; worker hornets live for 3-4 weeks, and the queen for almost a year – spring season to winter season; about 20 species (kinds) found in Europe, Asia and introduced to America

male ~~ drone

female ~~ queen (only one in a colony/nest)

baby ~~ larva

group ~~ swarm, nest, bike

voice (call) ~~ buzz (not vocal; not by mouth, but by the beating of wings while flying)

home ~~ nest

hornet nest

Some common hornet species are: Asian giant hornet, yellow hornet, European hornet, oriental hornet, giant Japanese hornet

Special Features:

Hornets are useful insects; they feed on other insects that are pests.

However, hornets are considered pests by the farmers who keep apiaries (‘apiary’ = the activity of keeping honey bees in artificial beehives to make honey).

a giant Japanese hornet

Giant Japanese hornet is the world’s largest hornet – growing to 1¾ inches (workers) and almost 3 inches (queen)!

Hornets are stinging insects.  Though not aggressive by nature, hornets can mob and sting a person or animal that disturb their nests.  And it is a fact that though the hornet’s stings is not as poisonous as that of other stinging insects, it is very painful and some people develop skin allergies!!

Figures of Speech:

1.

hornet (noun)  =  a bad-tempered, quarrelsome person

2.

a hornets’ nest  =  a very unpleasant or embarrassing situation

3.

to stir up a hornets’ nest  =  to invite troubles or problems by doing or saying something; to cause a lot troubles or difficulties to happen or to fall upon oneself or others

4.

as mad as a hornet

5.

as mild as a hornet [used ironically, i.e. in a negative sense, in this case, which means very aggressive]

6.

to bring a hornets’ nest about your ears  =  to cause a disturbance or to stir up trouble which may soon fall back upon the person that causes it

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