Shikoku Wasps

Shikoku Wasps:

The exact origins of the Shikoku wasp are unknown. While urban legend has it that they arrived in China via Japanese refugees from the eponymous island of Shikoku and testing has revealed them to be closely related to the Giant Japanese Hornet the two are in fact very different.

The most obvious difference is in size. Shikoku wasps dwarf their “giant” cousins at an average length of six inches and even a small swarm of 5-10 can potentially kill someone if they’re not prepared. Fortunately the wasps are generally non-aggressive unless they are pursuing or consuming prey or their nest is endangered. Even a small nest can house 80 or more adult Shikokus, with many more larvae inside so taking on a defending swarm can easily be a lethal proposition.

Shikokus are known to be an intelligent species (by the standards of wasps) and are able to communicate to one another about threats and food sources by the use of pheremones. They also build remarkably complex paper nests, which are required to accommodate their unusual size and the build up of body heat within the nest. They prefer to build indoors when possible but will use any sufficiently large overhang; there is a sub-branch of GEC Hong Kong devoted solely to removing the nests from the underside of the city bridges.