Almost every person in his life had to experience. Contact with a stinging insect is very sensitive, usually accompanied by pain and itching. However, the Japanese hornet poses a much greater danger, the bite of which can lead to lethal outcome. According to statistics, more than 4 dozen people die every year in Japan from the bites of such giants. Moreover, referring to the reviews of people affected by such creatures, they did not experience more painful bites in their lives. It is also surprising that an insect is capable of even stinging an enemy when danger approaches, the size of which is several times larger than its own.

Insect Features

The huge Japanese hornet, referred to as the "sparrow bee", does not at all resemble a friendly bird. Moreover, the stinging insect has a very aggressive character.

Vespa mandarinia japonica (giant Japanese hornet) differs from its counterparts not only in color, but also in large size:

• It is an insect up to 5 cm, whose wingspan reaches 6-7 cm.
• Outwardly, the giant is very similar to a wasp: it has a segmented body with yellow-brown stripes, a black chest. On the head of a yellow-orange color are two large eyes and three additional accessory eyes. A photo of the Japanese hornet is presented below.
• One more characteristic feature insect are powerful jaws, with the help of which the Japanese hornet is able to harm even a larger enemy than itself.
• The main weapon of the giant is a very long sting (more than 6 mm). With its help, the Japanese hornet inflicts a painful blow, letting in a poison with a nerve-paralytic effect into its victim. Moreover, only females have this organ.

On a note!

The strongest poison of a giant is capable of causing a serious allergy even with a single bite, some victims develop anaphylactic shock. The consequence of mass attacks of representatives of this species can be various hemorrhages and tissue necrosis.

Lifestyle and nutrition of the Japanese giant

Each individual in the hive has its own responsibilities. The “leading position” is occupied by the queen uterus, who is the successor of the clan. The hornets-workers are engaged in the delivery of food. Going in search of her, working individuals can overcome several kilometers.

The food for giant hornets is not only fruits and sugar-containing vegetables, but also insect pests of crops, as well as honey bees. Having found a bee hive, the hornet marks it with an odorous liquid, which allows him to subsequently return to the find along with his fellows. During the attack, the giants literally dismember the body of their victims, trying to extract valuable meat from them. Having dealt with adults, tyrants take larvae and honey, which also serve them as food.

Interesting!

It will take a Japanese hornet no more than a minute to exterminate up to 4 dozen bees. In 3 hours, 3 dozen individuals can destroy the entire bee family.

Where does the giant hornet live?

By the name of the insect, it becomes clear that Japan is the birthplace of the huge Japanese hornet. Outside this country, the giant can only be found in the southern part of Sakhalin Island. When choosing a habitat, insects prefer quiet, cozy places, building nests in hollows and on tree branches, in rock crevices and under building eaves. The cocoon of the giant hornet is very similar to, it is distinguished from the latter only by its large dimensions.

How it breeds

In spring, the fertilized female builds a nest from the bark of branches, which she crushes with her powerful jaws. The queen uterus wets the wood particles with the secretion of the salivary glands, as a result of which the composition takes on the appearance of coarse paper.

Of the 3 hundred eggs laid by the female, larvae appear in 7-10 days. After three molts, they pupate. A month later, a young hornet emerges from the pupa. He can not only independently find food for himself, but also take care of the larvae that have appeared.

Interesting!

Only males develop in unfertilized eggs. Future successors of the family occupy more spacious and comfortable cells.

With an increase in the number of individuals in the family, the dimensions of the nest also increase. Young individuals start mating, future queens of the uterus go in search of a favorable place to build a nest, and males die with the approach of cold weather. With the advent of heat, the females wake up and begin building a new shelter.

Bite symptoms

The bite of the Japanese hornet is accompanied by:

• strong pain sensations;
• the occurrence of extensive redness and swelling in the area of ​​damage to the skin;
• heart palpitations and headache;
• high body temperature and swollen lymph nodes;
• shortness of breath and nausea.

Giant hornets are able to repeatedly sting their prey and for this they do not necessarily sit on the skin.

The ingestion of histamine (an allergenic compound) into the human blood is especially dangerous for hypersensitive people. Therefore, they urgently need to provide medical assistance.

Pre-medical actions consist in applying a cold compress to the bite site and taking an antihistamine.

What you should know

In order not to become a victim of the Japanese hornet, you must follow basic precautions:

• when meeting with an insect, you can not wave your arms and make sudden movements, trying to drive it away from you;
• no need to try to catch or kill the Japanese hornet, since after that the offender is unlikely to be able to avoid the attack;
• in no case should you destroy the nest of dangerous insects.

It is the embodiment of genuine horror and nightmare. Due to its size and very aggressive nature, it has become a real monster that terrorizes the inhabitants. Perhaps someone will think that this is an exaggeration. Not at all. And the material presented below is able to prove the veracity of this statement.

Japanese hornet: description of the species

This representative of insects is a very close relative. True, unlike their brothers and sisters, the Japanese hornet lives only on the territory of these islands. Only a few times these insects were found outside their native lands, and it is impossible to say for sure whether it was the same species.

As for appearance, the Japanese hornet is primarily distinguished by its large size. So, the length of its body ranges from 4-5 cm, and the wingspan can reach 6-7 cm. Because of such proportions in Japan, this insect was nicknamed the "sparrow bee". True, unlike a peaceful bird, our striped friend does not please people with his singing.

Otherwise, the Japanese hornet is very similar to its relatives. The entire body of the insect is divided into alternating yellow and black segments. At the same time, unlike bees, the hornet's head is always orange. It is on it that the most formidable weapon of the “bee-sparrow” is placed - its jaws. Thanks to them, the Japanese hornet can easily bite a small insect, and a larger one can seriously cripple.

Life cycle of formidable insects

With the arrival of the first spring warmth, the life of our hero begins. After all, it is during this period of the year that the queens that survived after the winter get out of their hiding places and go in search of a new home. At the same time, it can be either an empty hollow in a tree or a small hole in a sandy shore.

Having found shelter, the female lays the first batch of larvae. Initially, the role of the breadwinner lies only with the queen, but as soon as the babies grow up a little, all the cares for managing the house pass to them. Now the only task of the female will be to continue the race, and everything else should not concern her.

At the end of summer, the queen produces the last brood of hornets. Among them are those males and females that will continue the mother's race after the death of her hive. However, only ladies will be able to survive until next spring. Therefore, mating takes place in early autumn, after which the males die, and the females look for a warm shelter for the winter.

Japanese poisonous hornet

You should start with the fact that in the body of this insect there really is a very dangerous toxin. It is he who represents greatest danger for those around you. Even a small amount of this poison, once under the skin, causes a terrible burning sensation and swelling. In this case, the toxin can be fatal to both animals and humans.

It should be understood quite an obvious fact: since this is a giant hornet, there is also a lot of poison in it. Therefore, by stinging a person, he can inject a horse's dose of a deadly substance into his blood, which will inevitably cause an allergic reaction. And in some cases, such “bites” can even lead to anaphylactic shock or even death.

Aggressive disposition

Another negative feature is the aggressiveness of the hornet. In search of food, these creatures without a shadow of a doubt attack other insects, and sometimes even animals. Moreover, sensing danger, they immediately attack their offender for an hour. At the same time, they are not at all embarrassed by the fact that their enemy can surpass them both in size and in numbers.

It is because of its aggressive nature that the Japanese hornet has become a thunderstorm of these islands. Everyone is trying to avoid it. After all, who knows what mood the "bee-sparrow" is in today - would she want to "greet" her guests?

As the name suggests, this insect lives on the Japanese islands and prefers the countryside, where it has the opportunity to find a suitable tree to build a nest. In Japan, these hornets are known as U-Suzumebachi (オオスズメバチ (大雀蜂 , 大胡蜂 ), which translates as "Giant bee sparrow".

The Japanese giant hornet (vespa mandarinia japonica) is a subspecies of the Asian giant hornet. This is a large insect, the adult of which can exceed 4 cm in length and have a wingspan of more than 6 cm. The hornet has a large yellow head with huge eyes, a dark brown chest, and brown and yellow stripes on the abdomen. The Japanese giant hornet has three small, simple eyes on the top of its head between two large compound eyes.

The diet of giant hornets consists of a wide range of insects, including crop pests, for this reason hornets are considered beneficial. Worker insects dismember the bodies of their victims in order to extract only the richest nutrients parts of the body, and take them to the nest. There, the hornets process the prey into a special paste for feeding the larvae, which in turn produce the fluid so necessary for the working hornets. This fluid, known as Vespa, is made up of a mixture of amino acids and is intended only for adult insects and is a wonderful tool, thanks to which they can travel up to 100 kilometers a day and reach speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour. This fluid provides the hornets with intense activity of the flight muscles for a long period and is currently being researched to create stimulant drugs based on it to artificially increase athletic performance. In many Japanese mountain villages, fried hornets are considered a great delicacy.

European bees are preferred by Japanese beekeepers because they are more productive than the endemic Japanese bees. But their maintenance has become quite problematic due to the fact that European bees are a favorite delicacy of Japanese giant hornets.

After the hornet has settled in the hive of European bees, it marks it with special pheromones that attract its comrades to it, thanks to such markers, the brothers quickly find the hive. One hornet can kill forty European bees in a minute, and it takes a company of 30 hornets just over three hours to deal with an entire hive containing 30,000 bees. The hornets kill the bees, dismember them, leaving their heads and limbs, and return to their nests with bee "fillets" with which they feed their larvae.

Japanese endemic bees in the process of evolution have learned to defend themselves against the attacks of giant hornets. When the hornet approaches the hive to release pheromones, the worker bees fly out, gather in a swarm of 500 individuals, and surround the hornet, forming a tight ball around it. From the vibrating wings, the temperature inside this ball begins to rise to 47 ° C, creating the effect of a convection oven. The heat generated by the organs of the bees is distributed to the hornet, and since the bees can survive at higher temperatures (48 to 50 °C) than the hornet (44 to 46 °C), the latter dies.

Hornets are the largest representatives of the genus of social wasps. They are distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The largest representative of this species is the Japanese hornet ( Vespa Mandarinia), which, as the name implies, lives in Japan and Asia. It is dangerous to a person, and bites can lead to death, but the attack occurs only in case of a threat to his life.

Appearance of the Japanese giant hornet

Appearance and anatomy

The Japanese giant hornet is the world's largest representative of the hornet genus. The size of one individual is from 4.5 to 5 cm, but some grow up to 6-6.5 cm. The wingspan reaches 7.5 cm. The body is painted in black and yellow stripes, the head is yellow, the cephalothorax and abdomen are dark brown or black color. In addition to the two main eyes, characteristic of all insects of the wasp family, there are three additional eyes on the head that form a triangle.

Lifestyle

Life cycle

The development cycle of the Japanese hornet begins in May. At this time, the queen queen comes out of hibernation and builds a hive, often reaching gigantic proportions. When the dwelling is ready, she lays eggs in combs, the number of which varies from 400 to 600 pieces. It takes 5 to 9 days for the larvae to develop, and after another two weeks they turn into adult workers.

With the onset of winter, the hornets die from the cold. Fertilized females fall into hibernation, which next year become queens and again continue the race.

appearance of a japanese hornet's nest

Nutrition

The daily diet of the Japanese hornet includes small insects, as well as fruits, berries, and even meat. The larvae feed only on animal food.

When extracting food, these insects use strong jaws, not a sting.

Japanese giant hornet loves fruits

Nest building

To build a nest, hornets use rotten wood, which they chew to mix with saliva. It is built for one year and is not reused. The place for the construction of a new nest is selected by the uterus.

A giant hornet's nest is being built in a tree

reproduction

When the nest is built, the queen places one egg in each cell of the comb. The formation of the larva takes 3-4 days. After 14 days, she turns into a chrysalis, then after another 15-21 days she becomes an adult and gnaws through the walls of the cell to get out.

Japanese hornet larvae make their way out

Wintering

The life expectancy of a hornet is relatively short (from a month to three), and life cycle mainly falls on the warm season. Only queens are adapted for wintering. They hide in the bark of trees, under rocks, in cracks in rocky terrain, under roofs and in hollows in trees. After wintering, the female looks for a new family for herself, and the cycle repeats again.

Geographic distribution

Japanese huge hornet distributed in Korea, India, Nepal, China, Japan, Sri Lanka. In Taiwan, there is a subspecies of the Asian hornet.

In Russia, this species is found only in the Primorsky Territory; it does not live in Ukraine. In the regions where it lives, it is called "tiger bee" and "bee sparrow" due to its large size.

List of subspecies

The Vespa type is represented by a large number of subspecies. On this moment more than twenty varieties of these insects have been described. The most common of them are:

• Vespa analis - an Asian hornet that lives in Korea, Japan, China;
• Vespa basalis - basal hornet, found in Laos, India, Nepal;
• Vespa biolor - a two-color hornet, distributed mainly in Hong Kong and Thailand;
• Vespa affinis is a small striped hornet living in Taiwan and Malaysia;
• Vespa bellicosa - warlike hornet, most often found in Indonesia;
• Vespa crabro is an ordinary hornet (hornet wasp), widely distributed in Europe.

Also in small areas there are Bingham, tropical, ardent, variable, deplorable, multi-spotted, yellow and other species of this insect.

Hornet Vespa analis - a real Japanese hornet

Hornets as active predators

How the hornet bites

Like wasps, a hornet bites a person only in cases where a threat can come from it - for example, when a nest is destroyed. During the bite, a substance is released, the smell of which alerts others to danger, so if they are nearby, they may also bite the victim.

The hornet's self-defense tool is the sting. It contains a very strong poison, and in structure it is very well adapted to penetrate the skin of animals and humans. Unlike bees, these insects can use it many times.

The Japanese giant hornet can use its sting many times.

Are bites dangerous for humans?

Hornet bites are very dangerous and sometimes fatal. More than 40 people are killed each year in Japan by deadly bites.

Even in people with good immunity and high resistance to poisons, a hornet bite causes swelling and pain, and if there is an allergy, anaphylactic shock can occur.

Typical bite symptoms:

• chills;
• dizziness;
• temperature increase;
• rapid pulse;
• sometimes - nausea and vomiting;
• blue lips and neck.

Ice should be applied to the bite of the Japanese hornet

The severity of the consequences depends on the age and health of the victim. Children and people with weak immune systems tolerate bites worst of all. The affected area also plays a role. The most dangerous bites are in the neck, head and large arteries.

What to do with a hornet bite

In case of a bite, it is necessary to immediately provide first aid to the victim:

• treat the affected area with antibacterial soap and alcohol solution;
• treat with a neutralizing agent (for example, lemon or onion juice);
• take an antihistamine;
• if the condition of the victim worsens, it is worth seeking help from specialists.

To avoid bites, you should be careful where there may be a nest of hornets - in the forest on trees and under the roofs of dark, little-used rooms. When a nest is found, you need to keep a sufficient distance from it and in no case try to destroy it without proper preparation. To do this, if necessary, call a pest control specialist.

Benefit or harm?

Hornets will not attack people until they see them as a potential threat. If you do not destroy nests and do not catch individual individuals, you can peacefully coexist with these insects.

Hornets can feed on larvae

On household plots, they can be very useful - they eat harmful insects, as they feed the larvae and feed on them.

Hornets harm beekeepers, ruining their apiaries. They eat bees. In a few hours, one individual can destroy 10-15 bees. A family can destroy a hive of honey in just a few hours.

They often spoil the crop by gnawing the berries and feeding on their juice. They use young trees as a basis for building a nest, which completely destroys the seedling.

The harm of hornets for beekeepers is that they attack the hive

Hornets can bite animals that accidentally damage their nest. A large number of bites, especially in the case of young or medium-sized animals, can lead to their death. Therefore, livestock breeders are trying to destroy all the habitats of deadly insects in pastures and in dwellings.

Control measures

You can fight hornets on your own, while carefully studying the technology of destroying nests, or by attracting pest control specialists.

It must be remembered that it is worth destroying nests only when they are at a short distance from housing and pose a danger to humans. If hornets appear on the plot occasionally, then you should not fight them - in this case, they will not harm and destroy insects. Uncontrolled destruction will lead to a significant decrease in their population. In some regions, hornets are listed in the Red Book.

The destruction of the nest takes place in three stages: the search for a habitat, the destruction of individuals and the immediate elimination of the dwelling. In order to bring them out, special insecticides, poisonous liquids or boiling water are used.

The nest of hornets can reach huge sizes.

Most often, destruction occurs as follows. A sufficiently large bucket is filled with a liquid chosen for insect control, such as boiling water, gasoline or an insecticidal solution, brought to the ceiling so that the nest is completely submerged in it, and propped up with a pole or ladder. Destruction occurs within 1-2 hours. After that, the nest is carefully removed and burned.

Care must be taken during this procedure - there is a great danger that the hornet may bite. Protect your skin and face as much as possible.

To destroy the nest, you can seek help from insect extermination services. Specialists treat the nest with an insecticidal solution and, after the death of the inhabitants, cut it off and burn it. A special suit protects the skin from bites, and this procedure becomes safe.

Video: battle of 30 Japanese hornets against 30,000 bees

• Hornets can release a special substance that alerts others that danger is nearby. Therefore, if the bite was made near the nest, there is a high probability of attack by other individuals.
• IN warm countries they most often arrange their dwellings on tree trunks, in countries with a cold climate - under the ceiling in attics, in barns, sheds.
• They take building material for the nest from tree branches and wood dust.

Hornets against other insects

Against the bees

The size of the hornets is several times larger than the bees, so they become ideal prey. Firstly, the bees are easy to catch, and secondly, the destruction of the hive allows you to get to the honey. A killer insect is capable of destroying 30-40 bees within a minute. It takes only a few hours for a small group to completely destroy a full-fledged bee colony.

Against praying mantises

Their other frequent prey is praying mantises. They are quite vulnerable to strong predators, as they are practically not protected by a chitinous cover. After the hornet catches the praying mantis, it most often bites off its front grasping legs in order to reduce resistance and deprive the victim of the opportunity to escape.

Hornet and praying mantis - old enemies

Against scorpions

These giant insects often attack even small scorpions. During the battle, they exhaust their prey, and when it weakens, they pierce it with a sting.

Against stag beetles

One of the few insects that can defeat the hornet is the stag beetle. It is fully protected by chitinous armor, which protects against bites, and highly developed upper jaws make it possible to break through the hornet's defenses and bite it.