Original subtitles

What's going on, Coyote Pack, and welcome

to a special episode of base camp

because it's also an aftermath episode

coming right off the sting from the Japanese giant hornet.

And if I'm not quite on point for this episode,

it's probably because it's only been

12 hours since I was stung.

- We're still in Japan. - Yeah.

And we're inside.

Why are the inside, Mario?

We're inside because there's currently a typhoon

raging outside our doors.

Typhoon Trami's right outside, but, hey, got a film

a video, right.

We got to show what happened to your arm.

Yeah, absolutely.

And we thought it would be interesting to do a slightly

different aftermath video so we could really

dive in and dissect this sting because it

was one of the most epic we have ever featured on the channel.

For sure.

It's only been 12 hours, but already, I

mean, look at your arm. I mean--

It's huge.

Don't need to say much more.

It looks like a fully pumped hot dog.

The swelling is all the way down into my elbow all the way up

through my wrist, and I think if you

were to stick me with a fork right now, it would explode.

Show them the Popeye effect.

Show 'em the whole thing.

There you go.

You been eating your spinach, huh?

Nope.

I've been taking Japanese giant hornet venom to the arm.

I don't recommend it, guys.

Trust me.

It has been an excruciating 12 hours.

And, Mario, as we know, there are multiple species of hornets

here in Japan, and we went after the biggest.

Yeah, traveling to this region, naturally

everyone was going to ask us about the

Japanese giant hornet, right?

So doing our research, we determined

that there are several species, some

of them that look very similar.

- Yeah, we brought some with us. - Right.

Actually this is cool.

The entomologist we were working with in the field

gifted us this amazing collection.

Look at that.

So these are the four largest species of hornet

that live here in Japan, and the only true giant

is this one right up here in the top left corner.

Yeah.

And that is the species that I was stung by,

the true Japanese giant hornet.

Sure, we had some difficulty initially actually finding one.

Yeah.

And we caught one that we thought was a giant hornet,

but during further research, we determined it wasn't.

Yeah, that was actually--

that's a good point to make.

We can't actually show some of that footage

because probably it'd make you upset.

That was actually this species right down here.

It's still pretty big.

Still way bigger than any of the hornets we have

in the United States and very similar in design--

a yellow head, same aposematic coloration,

but as you can see the size difference

is pretty noticeable. - Yeah.

- Oh, yeah. - Very significant.

So, OK, let's--

let's turn the microphone over to ask you some questions.

Yes.

First of all, how you feeling?

Really out of it.

I'm in a daze.

I feel like I'm sick.

My body is definitely fighting against the venom right now.

I felt nauseous.

I barely slept last night.

I tried to just keep an ice pack on my arm

to minimize the swelling.

Took some antihistamines.

At breakfast, you told us there

was a transition last night from, like, searing pain

to extreme itching.

Yes.

My arm itch is like crazy right now,

and I just keep doing this.

Aah.

Stop, stop, stop.

I know you're not supposed to itch it,

but it is so itchy right now.

And still the pain isn't nearly as intense

as it was the first six hours after the sting.

It sort of dissipated throughout the course of the night,

but it was still uncomfortable to the point

where it made it almost impossible to sleep.

Well, from Mario and I's perspective,

we can definitely say that that sting was by far the worst

reaction from a single sting--

Yes.

You've ever had or a bite actually.

Yeah, correct.

Yeah, the immediate response was intense swelling.

I mean, we could see it immediately.

Lots of the other stings, it was a little bit more

of a gradual swelling and visual.

But that visual of you just, like, boom, exploding into that

little, like, egg-shaped knot--

If you put up a picture right here,

there's, like, an instant goose egg on your arm.

It was crazy.

And where I think that that came from is similar to the bullet

ant, when the hornet stung me, its stinger went so deep,

it actually got stuck in my flesh.

It makes for a very interesting comparison between the two.

Yeah, I almost had a flashback to the bullet ant

when you said its stinger's stuck in my arm.

Like, almost the same scenario was dancing around.

Yeah.

Well, and in that moment, I mean, of course,

similar to the bullet ant, I wanted

you guys to be able to get that shot to the best

of your ability, and it took every ounce of strength

I had to not swipe the insect off of my arm

and to let that stinger take hold.

And of note, of course,

is you had significant amount of venom injected.

Yes.

Based on the size ratio of this insect

compared to the bullet ant-- Right.

Everything else we've dealt with, the amount

of venom going in was great.

I would say arguably this is probably

the most amount of venom that has been pumped into my arm

by an insect at this point. - From one insect.

From one insect.

Still the bees on the face I think

is the worst reaction you've ever had--

Definitely.

But from one insect, I would agree.

Without question.

And I would liken the sting from this insect

to be similar to the bite of the giant desert centipede--

Really?

As far as what the effects are.

Definitely that bad.

Yeah.

And certainly the aftermath of my arm

swelling like this, the centipede

did the exact same thing.

So in the midst of filming that episode,

it's really tough to catch and compose your words

and really think about what you're saying,

and I'm sure it all cut together wonderfully in post-production

because we're filming this before the episode is

even edited. Right.

And you guys are watching this

after it had been edited and then you saw the episode,

but I think in the midst I was saying

it certainly was more painful than the tarantula

without question.

Yes.

And after the fact,

I have to say that the Japanese giant

hornet dethrones the bullet ant as the most painful sting.

Really?

Yes, without question

and here's-- and here's why.

Here's why.

Now the bullet itself based on intimidation factor,

it's really not that scary.

It's just a big ant, kind of charismatic actually.

Yeah.

There's a lot of lore behind the bullet ant.

There is, but there's also a lot

of lore behind the Japanese giant hornet.

And, in fact, multiple people, as many as 10 to 25 people

die every year from the stings of the Japanese giant hornet.

Nobody dies from bullet ant stings.

So you have to think about it.

So in your opinion, how many stings

do you think a person could take before it becomes

a life threatening situation?

I would guess probably 10 stings.

And, of course, it depends where you were stung.

So take the bee beard, for example, right.

If you were to have 10 of these hornets attack,

if you disturbed the nest and they latched on to you,

keep in mind those little feet have grappling hooks on them.

They have those big biting mandibles.

You can hear their mandibles clipping,

and they can sting multiple times.

Sting multiple times, which bees cannot.

So if you've got 10 of these hornets that were to latch on

to, if you disturbed the nest, my guess would be

10 stings could kill anybody.

Yeah.

In the research that we conducted,

certainly every year just like in the United States,

every year people die from bee stings, right,

and generally it's an allergic reaction.

So not only do you have the potential

to have an allergic reaction, but multiple huge stings

will definitely cause a lot of edema.

And it could actually block off your airway.

That's the danger.

Yeah, well, that's why I'm saying

that if you were stung in the face,

that would probably be the case.

And, I mean, it's tough, too, and, Mari,

you can speak to this.

Like, being behind the camera, witnessing one of your friends

go through this-- we talk about this beforehand.

Like, Coyote tells us, like, you try to get me to respond,

try to get me talking.

And even asking you questions while you're

going through that experience, you almost feel bad in a way,

but yesterday was certainly one of those times

where I was seeing the swelling and thinking, Mario, do we

need to be really worried here.

Sure.

You know the first initial seconds is

crucial for any sting, right.

If you do have an allergic reaction

and go into anaphylactic shock, that happens within seconds.

So that moment where we monitor, you

know, your speech, your vitals, everything, very important.

Once we passed that and we're into the minutes,

OK, that part is safe.

You're not going to go into shock,

but now we have to work with your reaction

of the actual venom.

It's amazing how the different venom properties

will either last longer, what they're going to affect,

and so on.

And I agree that significantly this reaction

is worse than the bullet ant.

Oh, yeah.

However, the bullet ant, you were basically 20--

what 36 hours later, you were kind of like it still hurts.

Right.

It's still throbbing.

I was surprised to hear that you're ranking it up

there with the centipede bite.

Yes.

Like, that to me--

I mean, we've talked many times off camera.

Like, you've always said that the centipede bite

will always be the top--

Right. To you.

But you're saying that this is right there?

This is right there for sure.

It's not as bad as the Gila monster bite, but keep in mind,

guys, bites and stings are very different.

More venom comes from a bite than a sting.

But, again, the stinger getting stuck in my arm

and pumping venom multiple times is a big dose.

I mean, you can feel--

I mean, you guys can't feel through the camera,

but my entire elbow is swollen.

And we had marked on my arm the swell lines.

I still have some of the Sharpie marker spots.

It just went right past that.

That was the sting, this was the immediate swelling,

and now, I mean, you know, my wrist,

it feels like if you were to stick me with a fork

it would go pop.

Put your-- both your forearms next to each

other so you can kind of see. Yeah.

Yeah, we'll go ahead and get a tight shot of that right there.

You guys can see one forearm as compared to the next,

and certainly if I turn them like this--

Yeah.

This one is just, oh, it's so puff.

Popeye.

Yeah, it's crazy.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

- I'm Mark Vins. - I'm Mario Aldecoa.

Be brave--

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next base camp adventure.

During the winter of 2020, the national media

erupted with a deafening buzz that

venomously stung an unwarranted fear into homes across America.

That buzz came from none other than the giant hornet.

Hailing is one of the most painfully toxic stings

in the world, these nightmarish insects

have a nasty reputation, and they were defined

as murder hornets by the press.

For anyone that is late to the party, yes,

I have already been stung.

And, yes, it hurts a lot.

Absolute searing pain.

As for the invasion, no, we aren't

going to be overrun, stung, and killed by giant hornets.

But some may argue that the invasion has already happened.

That's where I come in.

It's time to set the record straight,

and more importantly, it's time to take

a misidentified scapegoat off of the suspect list.

OK, let's get down to business.

You showed up to see a full grown man experience some pain,

but first, you got to learn a little something

about this incredible insect.

As my mom always used to say you can't

have your dessert until you finish your vegetables.

Wow, if that's not a terrifying little insect,

I don't know what is.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you

to the cicada killer, one of the largest wasp

species in the United States.

This is only second to the tarantula hawk.

Now this wasp is not technically a spider

wasp like the tarantula hawk.

This is, in fact, a sand wasp.

Now similar to the tarantula hawk,

they have a very unique biological cycle.

This one that you're looking at right here is a female.

It is the females that get larger

than the males and the females that are

armed with a venomous stinger.

And what the females will do is search around

under the treetops for cicadas.

They will hone in on their target,

move in, and use that elongated abdomen

to swoop up underneath their prey, and then sting it.

They paralyze the cicada similar in the way

that a tarantula hawk paralyzes a spider.

Eventually the male cicada killers

fertilize egg that she lays on top of the paralyzed cicada.

The female will physically carry that cicada

and its large mandibles and its grappling hook-like legs

back to its underground burrow.

These burrows can be up to 20 inches in length,

and they have multiple tunnels.

At the end of each one of these tunnels,

the female will place the paralyzed cicada.

Once that egg hatches, it turns into a pupa

and begins to feast upon that paralyzed insect

until it grows large enough to build a cocoon,

and then once it hatches out of that cocoon the next season,

another cicada killer comes up from under the ground.

If that's not a true horror story, I don't know what is.

This is a very large wasp, and the easiest way to identify it

are those large amber-colored wings.

When this creature is at rest, like it is right now,

the wings have a very triangular shape to them,

very different looking from hornet or a spider wasp.

You'll see there when she folds her wings back,

it looks a little more concave, similar to a giant hornet,

which makes it really easy to misidentify this species

as that foreign invader.

And when you look at the front of the insect,

it has enormous eyes.

These wasps have incredible eyesight though primarily

diurnal, and you'll see them very

active on overcast cloudy days.

Again, they're using their senses to find the cicadas up

in the tree, target in on their prey,

and then they will make a move.

That thorax is rather sizable, very robust,

but it's the abdomen that is the most unique.

That black and yellow coloration tells you

that this creature is venomous.

Aposematic means leave me alone.

I am not something that you want to be stung by.

Now when it comes to the demeanor of this wasp,

to be honest, they're rather docile and very seldom will

they ever interact with humans.

In fact, the only time you stand the chance of being stung

by this insect is if you were to step on top of its burrow

and it were to come up from underneath you

and try to escape.

It would maybe sting your bare foot if you

were blocking its escape way.

Other than that, this is not a bug

that is ever going to go out of its way

to try to interact with humans.

During the summertime, you will oftentimes

see clusters of the males battling it out up in the air,

but other than that these are considered solitary sand wasps.

And no matter how you break it down, guys, to be honest,

this is one very intimidating insect,

which makes it very clear as to why

people are afraid of this wasp.

Wow, seeing it buzz around inside that capsule

brings a number of flashbacks--

the warrior wasp, the tarantula hawk,

the executioner wasp, and certainly

the Japanese giant hornet.

But there is a very good reason as to why I'm going

to be stung by this wasp today.

No, I'm not technically coming back out of sting retirement.

This is going to be a one and only

because right now this insect has

a very negative reputation by people misidentifying

it for the giant hornet.

They're panicking, and they're aiming to kill this species.

But it is not something that we need to be afraid of.

So by getting this up close for the cameras

and by taking a sting, I can show you guys that that sting

is not really that potent.

Remember, it only ranks as a 2 on the insect sting pain index.

Now that stinger is, of course, a modified ovipositor, which

is used for depositing eggs, and while it is laced with venom,

the venom of the species is not necessarily that potent.

However, I do not know how my body is going

to react to the sting, so we certainly

have an epinephrine pen on set just in case my body

has an allergic reaction.

But if you guys are ready, I think

it is time to transfer the cicada killer from the capsule

into the net.

Let's get in the forceps and get me stung.

This is the most delicate part, so I've

got to really stay focused and make sure to get

a clean secure hold just--

Just like that, we almost lost it.

Man, that is a very, very, very powerful, very powerful wasp.

Oh, buddy.

OK, let me try this again.

I mean, you have to think about.

This thing is capable of carrying a cicada that

can weigh more than it does.

It is a very, very powerful wasp.

And I also have to be very delicate and very gentle.

I don't want to damage the insect's

wings in any way whatsoever.

She's got all these little hairs on her,

which makes her very slippery.

That's where I'm struggling.

I need to get it right.

All right, like that.

I got a good hold.

I got to go with it now.

You guys in position?

OK, hands shaking.

I'm Coyote Peterson, and I'm about to be

stung by the cicada killer.

Oh my goodness, that stinger's long.

Here we go.

1, 2, 3.

It got away.

I lost it.

It's the first time I've ever lost one.

I must be rusty.

It got me more than once, too.

Woo.

Were you able to see that?

You able to see the sting?

Come in tight right there.

Long stinger.

Oh, yeah, it's throbbing.

Wow.

OK.

Really not that bad.

Really not that bad at all.

It got me there and there.

Oh, yeah.

OK, OK, here we go.

Second rush of pain.

Second rush of pain.

Nowhere near a velvet ant or tarantula hawk.

Nothing close to bullet ant or some of those larger wasps.

Wow, for such a long stinger, very intimidating,

really not that painful.

It got good stings, oh, yeah.

Skin is definitely tightening up.

Common paper wasp at the most, not even on par

with the honeybee.

Not even on par with the honeybee.

I can't believe it.

My first miss on the capsule.

Well, it's certainly back into the wild at this point.

Without question the strongest insect

I have ever worked with in one of these sting scenarios.

Now here's my theory.

For a spider wasp like the tarantula hawk

to go up against something like a tarantula, that's

an aggressive predator unto its own

with big fangs, so your sting and your venom

has to be insanely potent.

I don't feel any sense of paralysis in my arm.

When it comes to a wasp like the cicada killer,

when you're going to get the cicada

with no stinging or biting parts,

I could see why your sting doesn't need to be so potent.

Now a couple of minutes have gone by,

and if you come over here and you zoom in on my arm, Mario,

you can see something funky's happening on my forearm.

Look at that welt. I thought I only got stung twice,

but I'm seeing swelling here and radiating

out now into my forearm.

Now I do feel burning after the fact

but nothing more than a common wasp sting.

There is an initial jolt. It's sort of

like an electrical shock, and I was anticipating the paralysis

of the tarantula hawk.

But that pain went yeet, and then it just kind of died off.

Wow.

Now what that leads me to conclude

is that while this may be a very intimidating wasp

that is going to be confused for the giant hornet,

it is definitely not something we need to be afraid of.

I would say that this thing is no more than a 2

on the insect sting pain index.

And even 10-year-old Coyote could have likely taken a sting

from this creature and gone right on in the swamps

catching turtles.

Now when it comes to seeing one of these wasps this summer,

if you come across it in your backyard,

remember this is not a creature that is out to get you.

They want nothing to do with humans,

and unless you're a cicada, you have

absolutely nothing to fear.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

Whew, that was a good one.

The science of stings will always have a special place

in my heart, and the painfully entertaining experiences

we have caught on camera have brought to the spotlight

a collection of creepy creatures that

have never been so celebrated.

Giant hornets are not going to invade America,

and hopefully this up close look at the cicada killer,

despite its menacing design and impressive size,

has helped alleviate some of your concerns.

In an absolute worst case scenario, if you are stung,

it's not nearly as bad as their appearance

would lead you to believe.

Remember they kill cicadas, not humans.

And if there's one thing I hope you walk away with,

it's that these wasps are noticeably

docile unless trifled with.

Leave them alone and let them live.