Wasp

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New Horizons bugs

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New Horizons bugs
← (24) Honeybee	→ Brown cicada (26)

This article is about the stinging variety found in trees. For the smaller and harmless variety found near flowers, see honeybee.

Wasp
Image gallery
Real-world info
Name: Polistes jokohamae (Dark-waisted paper wasp) Family: Vespidae - Wasps
Main appearances
DnM DnM+ AC DnMe+ iQue WW CF NL NH
Other appearances
Film HHD aF PC
Names in other languages  ハチ  벌  Vespa  Wespe  黄蜂  Guêpe  Avispa  Wesp  黃蜂  Guêpe  Avispa  Оса

The wasp (known as the bee prior to New Horizons) is a bug in the Animal Crossing series 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 continue to chase the player as long as they are outside, until either they are caught or the player is stung. In New Horizons, the player can disperse a swarm of wasps by using a party popper or going into the sea if they have a wet suit on. If the player speaks to a villager while being chased 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 (and in New Horizons, spots on their face), which can be healed by using medicine or, in games prior to New Horizons, saving and quitting. In New Horizons, 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 Animal Crossing series, alongside the tarantula and scorpion.

Catch details

In Animal Crossing

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

— The player after being stung by bees, Animal Crossing

#23

"I caught a bee! Bzzz, bzz, bzz, bzzzzz! I'm glad it didn't sting me!"

DnM / iQue

DnM+ / AC

DnMe+

Time of year	All year
Time of day	All day
Location	In trees
Weather	Any weather
Selling price	4,500 Bells
Furniture size

In Wild World

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

— The player after being stung by bees, Animal Crossing: Wild World

#12

"I caught a bee! I'm so happy... that I didn't get stung!"

Description	These dangerous bugs are yellow and black.
Time of year	All year
Time of day	All day
Peak times	N/A
Location	Shaking trees
Bug size	38 mm
Selling price	4,500 Bells
Furniture size

In City Folk

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

— The player after being stung by bees, Animal Crossing: City Folk

#13

"I caught a bee! Bzz! Bzz! Bzz! Glad I didn't get stung!"

Description	These poison-carrying bees will attack big foes to protect the queen.
Time of year	All year
Time of day	All day
Peak times	N/A
Location	Shaking trees
Bug size	38 mm
Rarity	Rare
Selling price	2,500 Bells
Furniture size

In New Leaf

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

— The player after being stung by bees, Animal Crossing: New Leaf

#13

"I caught a bee! Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz! Phew! ...But why am I still holding it?!"

Time of year	All year
Time of day	All day
Peak times	N/A
Location	Shaking trees
Size	30 mm
Rarity	Rare
Selling price	2,500 Bells
Furniture size

In New Horizons

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

— The player after being stung by wasps, Animal Crossing: New Horizons

#25

"I caught a wasp! That's gotta sting..."

Time of year	North: All year South: All year
Time of day	All day
Location	Shaking non-fruit hardwood trees or cedar trees
Weather	Any weather
Spawn requirement	Appears from the start of the game
Selling prices	Nook's Cranny:  2,500 Bells  Flick:  3,750 Bells
Furniture size

Donating to the museum

In Animal Crossing

"Why, I'd imagine it took more than a bit of skill and daring to catch bees! You've got 'moxie,' as I believe they say. I'm certain you must have been stung numerous times. How terribly painful that must have been, eh wot? Incidentally, do you know how some honeybees protect their hives when attacked by giant wasps? The giant wasps can't survive heats above 113 degrees, but the honeybees can live at heats up to 122 degrees. The canny honeybees use this nine-degree difference to their fullest advantage, wot! When the wasps arrive, the bees attack them en masse. A single wasp may be swarmed by up to 500 bees! Now this is truly amazing. The bees then begin to vibrate, creating a veritable cocoon of suffocating heat. Do you see the genius at work here? This swarming is but a feverish defense against the giant wasps' weakness. The temperature? Hoo hoo! Lo and behold, 120 degrees! Just below the bees own threshold of survival! In this incredible fashion, the honeybees literally lay their lives on the line to protect the hive. Stupendous! To be honest, I learned that from a wee documentary I saw on the telly! Of course, incredible feats go only so far. When all is said and done, they're still insects, and still ghastly!"

In Wild World

"I once thought that its stinger was a bee's lone defense, but... ...I've recently heard that they also possess terribly replusive breath! Of course, the gent who told me this was a bit of a rabit liar, but still! I would heartly endorse the following action if you see another: FLEE LIKE MAD! Stingers and bad breath, honestly! What monstrous little beasties..."

In City Folk

"It can be quite dangerous to receive a large dose of bee venom-- for example, by being stung. That said, did you know that same substance is actually used in some women's perfumes? Indeed! A potent venom and a potent perfume... Which do you suppose is more devastating, wot?"

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

In New Leaf

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:

"Bees are prone to attack anyone who comes too close to their hive, so be careful when approaching! The yellow and black you see on their bodies are colors often used to convey danger. This danger is pretty significant, as many varieties of bees are capable of stinging multiple times."

In New Horizons

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

"Hoo! Allow me to share a fact with you! Wasps are sometimes called "meat bees" because...They. Eat. MEAT! MEAT! Of almost any sort! Surely you've seen what a menace they make of themselves at picnics. 'Tis hardly the worst of it, wot wot! Aggressive predators with venomous stingers, wasps not only hunt and eat other insects... they paralyze their prey, then drag their victims home ALIVE, leaving them for their larva to feed upon. Suddenly a simple sting seems quite tolerable."

Gallery

For more images, view this subject's gallery.

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  Animal Crossing

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  Animal Crossing: Wild World

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  Animal Crossing: City Folk

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  Animal Crossing: New Leaf

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  Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Real-world information

Apis cerana japonica, the Asiatic honey bee, on a flower

Prior to New Horizons

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 Animal Crossing: New Leaf 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 Animal Crossing: City Folk and New Leaf 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 Animal Crossing: New Horizons, meanwhile, the insect's design is closer to a dark-waisted 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 New Horizons

Polistes jokahamae, the dark-waisted paper wasp, on a leaf

Polistes jokahamae, the dark-waisted paper wasp, is a species of wasp that originates from Japan. Like the Asiatic honey bee, the dark-waisted 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.

Names in other languages

	ハチ Hachi	Hymenopteran (can refer to bees, wasps, sawflies, etc.)
	벌 Beol	Wasp
	黄蜂 Huángfēng	Wasp
	黃蜂 Unknown
	Оса Osa	Wasp
	Wesp	Wasp
	Wespe	Wasp
	Avispa	Wasp
	Guêpe	Wasp
	Vespa	Wasp

See also

• Wasp nest