Giant hornet virgin queen mating with male (VIDEO)
Caption
Vespa mandarinia virgin queen mating with a male in a cage in Kunming, Yunnan, China. The queen is in the center and is anesthetized (she is not moving much). There is male mating with her on the bottom and another male that is on her back. This was part of a series of experiments that isolated major components of female sex pheromone in this species. Identifying this sex pheromone is a key step in creating traps that could help biologists monitor the invasion of these giant hornets around the world, particularly in North America.
Credit
Professor James Nieh
Usage Restrictions
Must be used in conjunction with Current Biology paper on Asian giant hornets.
License
Original content