Regional forms vary sufficiently in color to cause difficulties in classification, and several subspecies have been variously identified and ultimately rejected; while a history of recognizing subspecies within many of the Vespa species exists, including V. velutina, the most recent taxonomic revision of the genus treats all subspecific names in the genus Vespa as synonyms, effectively relegating them to no more than informal names for regional color forms.

[3] The color form causing concern about its invasiveness in Europe has been referred to as V. v. nigrithorax,[4][5] though this name no longer has any taxonomic standing.

[7] V. velutina opportunistically hunts a very wide range of insects, including flies, dragonflies, and Orthoptera, typically capturing them by pursuit.

It flies about within an area of about one-half square metre (0.60 sq yd), scanning the direction from which foraging honey bees return to the hive.

For example, A. mellifera approach their hives more indirectly and slowly when they detect hawking hornets, instead of darting in as fast as possible in the way that A. cerana does.

This has variously been suggested to be an aposematic signal or a strategy for disruption of visual patterns, similar to the behavior of Apis cerana nuluensis and Apis dorsata,[8] but instead has been shown, in conjunction with rocking, to be endothermic heat production in preparation for a ball attack on the hornet.

[1] V. velutina originates from Southeast Asia, particularly the tropical regions, from northern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Taiwan, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Indo-Chinese peninsula, and surrounding archipelagoes.

[3] As an invasive species, the Asian hornet appeared earliest in France, Spain, Portugal, South Korea, and Japan.

[10] Humans have been attacked after disturbing hornets; although the species is not aggressive, it "charges in a group as soon as it feels its nest is threatened".

[11] Several people have died in south west France near the original introduction site, including a resident of Chaillevette, Charente-Maritime,[12] a 60-year-old woman in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine in 2019,[13] and a farmer in Orival, Charente in 2020.

[26] The Asian hornet spread to northern Spain, as confirmed in 2010 by the Beekeepers' Association of the Basque Country (Gipuzkoako Erlezainen Elkartea) and the Neiker entomology institute in Irún, after breeding colonies were found.

[34] According to Italian Beekepers' Association in 2017, the Asian hornet was well established in northwestern regions of Italy, and colonization is steadily advancing.

[41][42] A single "alive but dying" Asian hornet was discovered in Dublin, Ireland in 2021, but to date appears to not have become established on the island.

[47] Scientists in Spain found a European honey buzzard had predated on hornets as soon as they reached its territory, showcasing the potential of this predatory bird as a way to mitigate the invasion.