This morning I made a trap to catch some ō-suzume-bachi (Asian giant hornets) near our house,

as we have recently been repeatedly finding them inside the house, which is not a very nice thing since technically they can be deadly and are known to be aggressive when provoked. My experience with Vespa Mandarinia (a beautiful name denoting their striking orange coloration) has been that they are generally a mind-your-own-business type insect that is not overtly aggressive, and in a sense, almost "gentle." However, 30 - 40 people die in Japan annually from their stings which can have serious medical complications, and as such I don't want to risk them nesting in or around my house.

Late April is when the queens from the previous year (the queens are the only ones that survive the winter) come out of hibernation and begin to search for nesting spots. I suspect the torpid, somewhat clumsy ōsuzumebachi we have been finding in our home are queens searching for a sufficient nesting spot and food. In my post earlier today I had placed the trap (made of a crudely altered plastic bottle filled with red wine, honey, and a chunk of banana) outside. Upon my wife's return, however, she found another hornet (I suspect the one I heard in the hall this morning) scoping out her shoes. The last time I found one was in the same place, doing the same thing. I think they are scouting the shoes as potential nesting locations.

I quickly brought the trap back inside and placed it next to the insect. In no time it had picked up on the sweet stuff within the bottle, and was captured. Exciting, fascinating, and a bit sad, but glad to know at least this one won't be sub-letting our home, and really intrigued and happy to be able to see her so up close while still alive.

YouTube Version in case of DLive video (thumbnail at top) lag:

~KafkA

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Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as DLive and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)

My video is at DLive