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
Bald-faced hornet and colonies whose work force diminishes too early in the colony's life cycle will suffer a greater overall total loss in reproductives. A colony is divided into sterile males, female workers and the queen. All females are born with reproductive capacities. Caste systems are determined by larval feeding regime. G.T. Felippotti examined caste distribution amongst females in five small cell colonies and six large cell colonies. Small cell colonies had one queen and 17–21 female workers. Large cell colonies had 2–6 queens and 10–52 workers. Morphological comparisons revealed that queens are always larger than workers in the same colonies. Cuticular