Japanese ‘killer’ hornets
Today the “serious” Japanese news blog, Japan Probe, is covering the topic of “killer” Japanese wasps. As Japan is heading towards the autumn, these Japanese giant hornets are starting to nest in their annual preparation for cold weather (which makes them even more aggressive).
As I reported on several years ago in Japanese hornets from Hell, these giant hornets, called ‘Suzume Bachi’ (sparrow bee) are only a problem for children and whimpy, over-sensitive Japanese.
Most Japanese people have the odd idea that warps and hornets are as lethal as cobras. In my Japanese office, only a gaijin would ever “brave” swatting one of these wasps. Even the salarymen would scream like schoolgirls at the sight a hornet. Weird.
Once in my office I caught one these Japanese giant hornets, Vespa mandarinia, and let it sting me much to horror of the OLs who claimed it would kill me. The string was EXACTLY what I expected. It was about 2-3 times stronger than a regular wasp sting (since it was 2-3 times larger than a regular wasp sting). In other words, it was no big deal.
For more fun, see:
— Japanese Hornets “from Hell” (3Yen)
— wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet
— nationalgeographic.com/GiantHornets
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September 4th, 2009 at 5:14 am
those hornets are overrated…Chuck Norris eats them as cereal/breakfast every morning, I’m pretty much like him..
September 4th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
YES! I am the Chuck Norris of wasp whopping!
As a teenager, I used to wander around old mining and lumber camps with a metal detector looking for old coins (which I found with great success). However, when probing the earth I also tended to find ground wasp nests with great success. I think my personal best was 143 stings to my ass and balls when I sat on a ground wasp nest while digging up a cache of gold dust (my most valuable find ever).
September 5th, 2009 at 1:15 am
The national geographic special documentary on Hornets from Hell said that the sting’s venom dissolves the flesh around the sting for this particular hornet…so Taro-sama must have gotten some real Smappy immunity built up to withstand the venom after all this time…. :p
September 6th, 2009 at 10:17 am
I was stung by one of them li’l bastards in Karuizawa a few years ago, and I gotsta say, it really was the most painful and long-lasting insect bite I’ve had to date. That said, I still never hesitated to attack their nests with brooms, or, if within reach, one of those disposable blowtorch units you can buy at combinis. Oh so satisfying; if I’d burned the house down it would’ve been worth it.