Kurosuzumebachi (Japanese yellowjacket)

It is an insect belonging to the family Vespidae in the order Hymenoptera of the class Insecta. It is commonly found throughout Japan, from the plains to the mountains, and is also called jibachi or sugare. Its body is glossy black with white horizontal stripes. It nests underground, and its nest is almost spherical, 20-30 cm in diameter, with 10-12 nests stacked vertically and covered with a football-shaped outer shell. Each nest consists of hexagonal nursery chambers, and a total of 10,000-20,000 larvae are raised in it. Male wasps and new queens emerge only in late autumn, and after mating, the new queens burrow underground to overwinter alone, and build new nests the following spring. It is a typical carnivorous wasp, hunting various insects and spiders to feed its larvae. In fishing villages, they sometimes bite off dried fish or squid meat and carry it to their nests. Its closely related species include the Fern Wasp V. shidai , the Shiny Wasp V. rufa , and the Yellow Banded Wasp V. vulgaris , all of which nest underground, but as the adults are morphologically very similar, they are often confused with this species. It is also famous as an edible insect in Japan, and in Nagano, Gifu, and Gunma prefectures in particular, nests are dug up in autumn and the larvae and pupae, called hachinoko, are eaten and are also sold commercially as canned goods. As a sanitary pest, stings can be a problem in nests around houses.

[Makoto Matsuura]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

昆虫綱膜翅(まくし)目スズメバチ科に属する昆虫。日本全土の平地から山地にかけて普通にみられ、ジバチ、スガレなどともよばれる。体は光沢のある黒色で、白色の横斑(おうはん)がある。土中に営巣し、巣はほぼ球形、直径20～30センチメートルで、10～12巣盤が縦に重ねられ、外側をフットボール状の外被が覆っている。各巣盤は六角形の育児室からなり、全部で1万～2万の幼虫が育てられる。雄バチと新女王バチは晩秋にのみ出現し、交尾した新女王バチは土中などに潜り込んで単独で越冬し、翌春に新しい巣をつくる。典型的な肉食性のハチで、各種の昆虫、クモなどを狩り幼虫の食物とする。漁村では干した魚やイカの肉をかじり取って巣へ運ぶこともある。近縁種にシダクロスズメバチV. shidai、ツヤクロスズメバチV. rufa、キオビクロスズメバチV. vulgarisなどがあり、いずれも土中に営巣するが、成虫は形態的に酷似するので、しばしば本種と混同される。わが国の食用昆虫としても有名で、とくに長野、岐阜、群馬の各県下では、秋に巣を掘り出して、幼虫や蛹(さなぎ)を蜂の子(はちのこ)とよんで食用に供し、缶詰としても市販される。衛生害虫として、人家周辺の巣では刺傷が問題となることもある。

［松浦　誠］

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