Frelon

The Frelon ( Vespa crabro ) is a Hyménoptère Eusocial of the family of the Vespidés resembling a common Guêpe but of size three times more important; it is in fact largest of the species of European wasps: the queen reaches up to 35 mm, the workers make from 18 to 25 mm and the males from 21 to 28 Misters Rayé of yellow and black on the Abdomen, the head being able to raise an orange red color, the Frelon evokes more one beetle which a wasp when it steals.

It is called also guichard , or yellow bottom in the East of France, beurgot in the South-west of France, talene in Suisse, cabridan in Provence, lombarde in Bresse and Lyonnais, arcier in the Nievre.

Distribution

Europe, north of the Asia (Palearctic), North Africa, but also North America.

Lifestyle

Its annual colonies do not survive the cold first, except for the young fertilized queens.
Au spring, those create in the dead trees, walls of dry stone, attics or chimneys, even in the old, heap bales of straw of compost or old rags, in the frames or supports, a nest out of papier-m4ach3e (chewed vegetable fibers) sheltering the first cells where they lay first eggs.
Après blossoming of the larvae, the queens who survived until there them nourish themselves to the moult. 5 to 7 weeks after the first laying, these first workers mature will then discharge the queen from the majority of work. In autumn, the colony reaches its apogee, of young queens and from the false-bumblebees are born, prelude of the following cycle. The nests are often composed of 5 to 10 (even 12) lines of consitués superimposed plates of cells tourjours directed to the bottom, but the general configuration of the nest can strongly vary according to the place where it is built. The color and the reasons for paper vary according to vegetable fiber collected by the workers. A nest includes/understands on average 5.000 cells. The young males and females which will appear in June or July do not take part in the construction of the nest. At the time of the autumnal cold first, the males and females and the queen of the season die, as well as the workers. In fact the young recently fertilized females will spend the winter to constitute new colonies.

To nourish its couvain, a well developed colony can consume 500 G of insects per day: Fly S, Wasp S, bees, Grasshopper S, Dragonfly S, like caterpillar S and Spider S.
Les working adults nourish vegetable essences and sometimes of fallen fruits or abandoned flesh-colored matters.

Dangerosity

The puncture of this insect, as those of the others vespidés is painful because of the diameter of the dart and the composition of the Venin, but its toxicity is lower than that of the venom of bee. Also, contrary to a tough legend which claims that six punctures would be mortals for the man (sometimes only three) or that seven would be enough to kill a horse, the number of punctures necessary to kill an adult human being is at least at several hundreds, except for allergic individuals , that only one puncture can endanger, in particular in the event of edema of Quincke.

Documented testimonys and the observations of entomologists let think that the Frelon is not very dangerous, as long as his nest is not attacked, that one does not approach it too near. Its nests moreover are more often built in height and not very accessible to the children (but they can sometimes be in, heap tree trunks of sheets or compost or anfractuosity on the level of the ground). Moreover it is frequent that the new nest builds each spring is far away from the precedent.

The Frelons attack those which pass in the vicinity (with less than 5 meters) of their nest, but the number of workers taking part in the attack is never sufficient to lead to the death of an adult in good health (see bonds below). The imminence of the attack can recognize with a change in the buzz, out of these zones, the Frelon is a peaceful insect which it is enough not to startle by abrupt gestures. What makes the Frelons very unpopular, it is that contrary to the wasps they are attracted by the light, and their visit is extremely probable if their nest is installed close to a dwelling. It is thus enough to light the light in a different part to make it leave a given part.

Threats, statute

It seems difficult to estimate the state of the populations of the various species of Frelon, for lack of follow-up. The Frelon has statute of protected space in Germany, and he is regarded as a useful species by the entomologists of the majority of the countries. Its nests nevertheless are often destroyed by the public which in is more afraid than of the bee or the common wasp, because of its size and its resemblance to the wasps

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