Saturday’s report from The New York Times that the Asian giant hornet — known to many as the “Murder Hornet” — made its way to North America for the first time understandably had plenty of people on edge. It’s the kind of twisted subplot we should expect from 2020.
The hornets were found in parts of Washington and British Columbia, Canada, and if they spread, the insects pose a huge threat to the North American honeybee population. The Murder Hornets attack honeybee hives, killing every bee just to feast on their larva.
These Murder Hornets are also huge and pack an extremely painful sting that can be lethal to humans (if the person gets stung multiple times).
As word of these Murder Hornets’ arrival to North America made rounds on the internet, some users uncovered a photo gallery from 2011 that put to scale just how big the queen Murder Hornets can be. (Note: Click on the photo for the full flickr gallery).
Those stingers … Uh, yeah, Murder Hornets can stay away. Thanks.
It’s important to remember that the queen Murder Hornets are about twice the size of male and worker hornets, but either way, the sizes of these insects are intimidating.
Since the hornets were discovered in Washington, entomologists have worked to eradicate these hornets from North America to protect the honeybee population. The Japanese honeybees have developed a defense mechanism to “cook” attacking Murder Hornets by swarming the intruder. But North American honeybees don’t have this ability and would be especially vulnerable.
Also, nobody wants to see those hornets once we’re all allowed to go back outside. That would just be another reason to extend the quarantine.
