VAAM (Vespa Amino Acid Mixture)

The Japanese giant hornet (Oo-Suzumebachi) is large and fearsome, but it is not particularly aggressive unless it feels threatened.

Workers forage to feed their siblings. Their diet consists of a wide range of insects, including crop pests, and for this reason the hornets are regarded as beneficial. The workers dismember the bodies of their victims to return only the most nutrient-rich body parts, such as flight muscles, to the nest. There, the workers chew the prey into a paste before feeding the larvae who in return produce a fluid consumed by the workers. This fluid is known as vespa amino acid mixture (VAAM). The fluid enables intensive muscle activities over extended periods, allowing them to fly 100 kilometres (62 mi) per day and reach up to 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph).

Synthetic VAAM is being produced artificially as a dietary supplement to increase athletic performance^{[citation needed]}

In many Japanese mountain villages, the hornet is considered a delicacy when fried.^[1]

The Japanese giant hornet has a venom which is injected by the 6.25 mm-long (quarter-inch) stinger and attacks the nervous system and damages tissues of its victims.^[1]

Tests with mice find the venom not to be among the most lethal, having an LD₅₀ of 4.1 mg/kg, which compares to the deadliest wasp venom (to mice) by weight of Vespa luctuosa at 1.6 mg/kg. The potency of the sting is due to the relatively large amount of venom injected.^[2]

Being stung is extremely painful and requires hospital treatment. On average 40 people die every year of anaphylactic shock after having been stung,^[1] which makes the Japanese giant hornet the most lethal animal in Japan (bears kill about ten people and venomous snakes kill five to ten people each year).