Australian hornet band marking the abdomen. The insects wings are largely translucent, but tinted orange with black areas at the wing's end. Being a member of the potter wasp subfamily (Eumeninae), "A. ephippium" females build large nests in sheltered positions using mud. The females search for prey (including spiders and caterpillars) around trees and shrubs, before sealing the captured insects inside the nest's cells. The larvae then feed upon these insects, before emerging. Australian hornet The Australian hornet ("Abispa ephippium"), actually a type of potter wasp or "mason wasp", is a vespid insect native to the Australian states and territories of the
Hornet visible under high magnification) and can easily be withdrawn and so are not pulled out of their bodies when disengaging. The toxicity of hornet stings varies according to hornet species; some deliver just a typical insect sting, while others are among the most venomous known insects. Single hornet stings are not in themselves fatal, except sometimes to allergic victims. Multiple stings by non-European hornets may be fatal because of highly toxic species-specific components of their venom. The stings of the Asian giant hornet ("Vespa mandarinia") are among the most venomous known, and are thought to cause 30–50 human deaths annually