Real Asian Giant Tiger Hornet - Vespa Mandarinia (Murder Hornet) specimen encased in clear lucite material. Safe, authentic and completely unbreakable product put real Hornet right at your fingertips! Anyone can safely explore the Hornet from every angle.

It is clear enough for microscope observation.

Length of the Hornet body is 3.8 cm (1.5 inch).

Size of the lucite block is 7.3x4.0x1.6 cm (2.9x1.6x0.6 inch).

Each one comes with a cardboard box for easy storage.

Weight of the block is 90 g and 110 g with packing box.

It is an ideal learning aid for students and kids and also a very good collectible item for every body.

This is a handmade real animal specimen craft. Each one will be a bit different (specimen size, color and posture) even in the same production batch.
The pictures in the listing are just for reference as we are selling multiple pieces with same pictures.

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Asian Giant Tiger Hornet (Vespa Mandarinia)

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae
Genus: Vespa
Species: V. mandarinia
Binomial name: Vespa mandarinia

The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), including the subspecies Japanese giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia Japonica),colloquially known as the yak-killer hornet, is the world's largest hornet, is a native of temperate and tropical Eastern Asia. Its body length is between 27 mm (1.1 inches) and 45 mm (1.8 inches), with a wingspan of about 76 mm (3 inches). Queens may reach a length of 55 mm (2.2 inches).

Anatomy

The head of the hornet is orange and quite wide in comparison to other hornet species. The compound eyes and ocelli are dark brown, and the antennae are dark brown with orange scapes. The clypeus (the shield-like plate on the front of the head) is orange and coarsely punctured; the posterior side of the clypeus has narrow, rounded lobes. The mandible is large and orange with a black tooth (inner biting surface).

The thorax and propodeum (the segment which forms the posterior part of the thorax) of the Asian giant hornet has a distinctive golden tint and a large scutellum (a shield-like scale on the thorax) that has a deeply-impressed medial line; the postscutellum (the plate behind the scutellum) bulges and overhangs the propodeum. The hornet's forelegs are orange with dark brown tarsi (the distal - furthest down - part of the leg); the midlegs and hindlegs are dark brown. Wings are a dark brownish-gray. The tegulae are brown. The gaster (the portion of the abdomen behind the thorax-abdomen connection) is dark brown with a white, powdery covering; with narrow yellow bands at the posterior margins of the tergite, the sixth segment is entirely yellow.

Geographic Distribution

It can be found in most of Asia but mostly in the mountains of Japan: southeastern regions of Asian Russia (Primorskii Krai), Korea, China, Japan, Indochina, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka.

Sting

The stinger of the Asian giant hornet is about a quarter-inch (6 mm) in length, and injects an especially potent venom that contains an enzyme so strong that it can dissolve human tissue. Masato Ono, an entomologist at Tamagawa University near Tokyo, described the sensation as feeling "like a hot nail through my leg."

If a person is stung by the giant hornet and does not receive prompt medical treatment, he or she may die from a reaction to the venom. About 40 people die each year after being stung by giant hornets, mainly as a result of an allergic reaction to the venom.

A couple of interesting notes on the V. mandarinia's venom and stinger:

• The venom contains 5% acetylcholine, which stimulates the pain nerve fibres more than bee or other wasp venoms, so that it is a bit more painful.
• The venom is optimized to kill bees which are the V. mandarinia's natural prey. This means that while the venom may be a bit more painful to vertebrates, it is actually less toxic.
• Like all hornets, V. mandarinia can sting repeatedly, and do so when they prey on bees and other insects.
• According to a report, one victim could not be recognized because said victim's face was dissolved beyond recognition due to numerous stings to that area.