Vespa mandarinia (Vespidae: Hymenoptera) is one of the two largest true hornets known to science. The species is a noted predator of social Hymenoptera and a significant pest of managed honey bees in its native range, but is also known to feed on a wide variety of other species when available. Most of the prey records for V. mandarinia are derived from visual observations in Japan, with sparse observations from other parts of its native range. A population of V. mandarinia was detected in North America in 2019 and five nests were removed between 2019 and 2021. We extracted DNA from larval meconia from four nests collected in Washington State, USA, and amplified the CO1 region to determine the potential prey base. We compared these with sequences generated from three nests in the Republic of Korea, and with prey pellets collected from foraging hornets at several locations in Korea. Results indicate that the prey base was much wider in the ROK than the USA, although social Hymenoptera were the most abundant and common prey items in both regions. Prey range seems to be bound by an intersection of organism size and local biodiversity, with little evidence to suggest that the latter is a limiting factor in colony success.

• Moon Bo Choi(Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Kyungpook National University)
• Chris Looney(Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Kyungpook National University)
• Telissa Wilson(Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Kyungpook National University)
• Luke Tembrock(Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA)
• Jessica Orr(Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Kyungpook National University)
• Sapphitah Dickerson(Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Kyungpook National University)
• Shawn M. Cleveland(Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington, USA)
• Mark Wildung(Genomics Core lab, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA)