[2] Oriental hornets have also been found in a few isolated locations such as Mexico and Chile due to human introduction.

[5][6] The Oriental hornet lives in seasonal colonies consisting of caste system dominated by a queen.

[7] The hornet has a yellow stripe on its cuticle (exoskeleton), which can absorb sunlight to generate a small electrical potential, and this might help supply energy for digging.

[8] The adult hornet eats nectar and fruits and scavenges for insects and animal proteins to feed to its young.

[2] V. orientalis has unique adaptations to arid climates, which has made it difficult to assess its phylogenetic relationship to other species of the genus Vespa, based on morphological data alone.

[12] While a history exists of recognizing subspecies within many of the hornets, including V. orientalis, 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.

[2] Females (workers and the queen) have an ovipositor, which is a specialized organ shaped like a tube that is used for laying eggs.

[14] Oriental hornets can be found in Central Asia, southwestern Asia from Armenia and Turkey to India and Nepal, throughout the Middle East, in Northeast Africa, in some Afrotropical countries such as Ethiopia and Somalia, and in parts of Southern Europe: Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, Sicily and the southern half of peninsular Italy.

[2][15][16] Oriental hornets have been introduced by humans into additional locations, including Chile,[6] Madagascar, Mexico, and Xinjiang, China, as well as the occasional introduction via fruit into Belgium and the United Kingdom.

[5] The Oriental hornet is the only member of the genus Vespa that can be found in desert climates such as those in North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of southwestern Asia.

[2] To construct the paper nests, the workers strip the bark from twigs, tree branches, and shrubs to collect fiber.

[2] Oriental hornets live in seasonal colonies that are formed every year in the spring by a single queen that mated during the previous fall.

After mating, the drones die off, while the newly fertilized queens seek hideouts in which to hibernate for the winter.

Social wasps are unusual in their practice of altruism in which nonreproductive individuals work for the benefit of the colony.

[7] When workers tap while facing the queen, three effects are noted: the queen starts to search the combs for vacant cells in which to lay her eggs in, the workers go back to performing their typical duties, and hunger signals by larvae cease immediately and are not resumed for at least 30 minutes.

Oriental hornets capture other insects such as grasshoppers, flies, honey bees, and vespids with which they feed the colony's brood.

However, a 2024 study by Dr. Sofia Bouchebti et al found that oriental hornets fed sugary solutions containing up to 80% ethanol for a week showed no adverse effects on behavior or lifespan.

The oriental hornets are thus hypothesized to be in a symbiotic relationship with the yeast, "preserving" fruits for themselves by reducing competition for food from others.

[21] Enzyme activity in the layer of yellow xanthopterin granules was demonstrated to be higher in hornets kept in dark environments and lower in those exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light.

The experiments were funded by the Israel Space Agency with the goal of discovering ways to prevent astronauts from suffering headaches, nausea, and vomiting during the missions.

The sample of 230 Oriental hornets, flight hardware, and measuring instruments were all packed onto the Space Shuttle Endeavour, mission STS-47, in 1992, while a control group was kept on the ground for comparison.

[24] During the launch, 202 hornets died as a result of a malfunction in the water system that caused an abnormal increase in humidity.

Roughly 3 to 4 days after returning to earth, the hornets started climbing on the walls again and building a nest.