Hawking Hornet

I wasn't going to post this hornet in flight as I was hoping to better it. Until I read an article in the paper today. As they're in the news it seemed like a good day to feature one.

It has been discovered that bumblebees have adopted the "stop, drop and roll" technique favoured by firefighters to combat Asian hornets. When a hornet attacks a bumblebee in the air, the bee will stop flying and drop to the ground, taking the hornet with it and the impact with the ground causes the hornet to lose its grip and the bee has a chance to escape. If the hornet doesn't lose its grip the bee will roll onto its back and present its sting. The hornet gives up as it can't regain a good hold on the struggling bee. Honey bees don't use these techniques and fall prey to hawking hornets.

Mine is a European hornet and the article is about Asian hornets, which are starting to appear in the UK. At least I've got the abdomen of mine fairly sharp. Neither the hornet nor the bumblebee in flight was sharp in the newspaper pic. :)