Wasp

The wasp (known as the bee prior to ) is a bug in the that has appeared in every game to date. It can be found when shaking trees at any time of day or year. When shaken, a wasp nest can fall out of the tree, causing a swarm of wasps to chase the player. If the swarm reaches the player, they get stung.

Wasps will continue to chase the player as long as they are outside, until either they are caught or the player is stung. In, the player can disperse a swarm of wasps by using a. If the player speaks to a villager while being chase by wasps, the villager refuses to talk and tells the player to go away.

Getting stung by a wasp leaves the player with a swollen left eye, which can be healed by using medicine or, in games prior to, saving and quitting. In, getting stung again while the player already has a wasp sting results in them fainting and reappearing in front of their house. If the player speaks to a villager while having a wasp sting, the villager comments on it.

The wasp is one of three harmful bugs in the, alongside the tarantula and scorpion. If multiplayer is active or the player's gates are open, harmful bugs, including wasps, will not appear.

In
"OWWWW! I got stung by a bee..."

- The player after being stung by bees

In
"I got stung by BEES! Ow! Ow ow ow ow!"

- The player after being stung by bees

In
"I got stung by a bee! Ow! Ow ow ow!"

- The player after being stung by bees

In
"Ow! Ow ow ow... I got stung by bees!"

- The player after being stung by bees

In
"Ow! Ow ow ow... I got stung by wasps!"

- The player after being stung by wasps

In
The bee can be found flying from tree to tree along the back wall of the museum's insect exhibit.

In
Upon being donated, the bee can be found in the room of the bug exhibit with the light in, flying around and resting on a tree in the back. The exhibit has this to say about the bee:

In
Upon donating the wasp to the museum the curator, Blathers, will say the following:

Prior to
Because the bee's Japanese name, hachi, can refer to both bees and wasps interchangeably, the bee's original depiction borrows elements from both Apis cerana japonica, the Asiatic honeybee, and Vespa mandarinia, the northern giant hornet. In the first and second generation titles, the bee bears a closer resemblance to the Asiatic honeybee, and certain Turkey Day recipes in use beehives as secret ingredients, presumably due to the honey inside of them (only seventeen species of wasps produce honey, and the northern giant hornet is not among them). Conversely, the bee's in-game design in and  is more similar to the Japanese giant hornet, and the beehives seen throughout the series bear closer resemblance to a hornet's nest than to a real-world honeycomb. In, meanwhile, the insect's design is closer to a European paper wasp, a species more widely recognized as a wasp rather than a bee outside of Japan.

The Asiatic honeybee is a hardy species of bee that originates from Southeastern Asia. It is used commercially for its honey despite producing smaller yields than its European counterpart, Apis mellifera. The species has, however, been subject to selective breeding for many centuries, greatly increasing honey output over the years. The species is also known for its unique defense mechanism against the northern giant hornet, whose exoskeleton is too strong for their stingers to pierce. Instead, the colony dogpiles on the predator and vibrates intensely, exploiting their slightly higher heat resistance by gradually cooking the hornet to death.

The northern giant hornet, meanwhile, is a predatory insect endemic to South Asia, East Asia, and eastern Russia. It is the world's largest species of hornet, hence its name, and primarily resides in forests and low-altitude mountains. The insect's large size results in its venom being highly potent compared to other common hornets in order to liquify its prey; this plus the species' aggressive nature results in multiple stings being lethal even to non-allergic humans. Because of the danger that these hornets present, they are widely considered pests in Japan, with various methods being used since 1973 to eradicate colonies.

In
Polistes dominula, the European paper wasp, is a species of wasp that originates from Europe, North Africa, and southeast and eastern Asia. Like the Asiatic honey bee, the European paper wasp is a social species, congregating in large hives composed of numerous interlinked hexagonal cells similar to a honeycomb; rather than being made from natural wax, however, these hives are constructed of paper, created by chewing wood into pulp and spitting it out, hence the name "paper wasp." A special protein in the wasps' saliva toughens and waterproofs the pulp, allowing the hives to maintain shapes like that seen in the Animal Crossing series and ensuring greater protection from predators. Paper wasps are known to be more docile than other wasps, such as yellowjackets and hornets, and do not sting unless provoked or their nest is under threat.