Description of a Suzumebachi bite and sting

The following description was left as a comment on my video “My Pet Suzumebachi (video and photos below).” I decided to post it here as it is a pretty rare thing to receive a clearly described account of an attack from these dangerous insects.

“This is perhaps my favorite insect ever. I was amazed the first time I saw one. Last year I was simultaneously bitten and stung at the same time, just above the knee. My leg swelled up, like I had water on the knee, and I was sick for a day with flu-like symptoms (mild nausea and fatigue) The bite took a piece of meat out of my leg the size of a match head…took months to heal, and left a small white crater scar. I have no doubt that a dozen of these attacking might kill a full grown man.” -Tterribillis

The Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia) is the world’s largest and the most dangerous animal in Japan. These insects are called suzumebachi (sparrow bee) in Japanese and are a common sight during summer months from the high mountains to the forested edges of large cities throughout the country. The insects make their living hunting other insects and specialize in attacking honeybee colonies where they will kill all of the bees and consume the larvae. The native honeybees of Japan, however, are not without defense as they will sometimes ambush en-mass an intruding suzumebachi, covering the hornet with their own bodies. This causes the body temperature of the wasp and bees to rise, killing the wasp which has a lower maximum temperature tolerance than the bees. Imported commercial honeybees have no such defense and are easy victims to suzumebachi in Japan and other parts of Asia.