Life always has a great feature of adapting itself to the environment. We have once again a solid proof for that matter with two new specimens of giant hornets found to turn up. They were found in the Pacific Northwest, thus confirming that the species made it through the winter.
Dubbed as the “murder hornet”, the Asian giant hornet is known for its proclivity to grasp honeybees and kill them in a savage way. The hornet bites off the victim’s head and carries it home to nurture young hornets.
An Asian giant hornet found in Washington
An entomologist from the Washington State Department of Agriculture named Sven Spichiger found in a roadway one insect that has been identified as the Asian giant hornet. It can also be named as Vespa mandarinia. The insect was dead.
Asian giant hornets are pretty dangerous for people, as a person could die after getting stung by the insect. For instance, Japan’s death toll for people stung by these hornets is at around 40 to 50 people per year.
Should people stay indoors to survive the hornets invasion?
Paul van Westendorp, the principal beekeeping specialist for the province of British Columbia, doesn’t think so. He simply declared:
“Apex predators are maybe very fierce in what they can do, but there are only a few of them around,”
van Westendorp might know what he’s talking about, considering that he received from beekeepers last year the first giant Asian hornet specimens.
There you have it, no need to worry too much about the insects. Unfortunately or not, we have other invasions to be worried about. Latin America is the new epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, as Brazil is currently the second country in the world for the most number of infections with the disease. As for alien invasions, they’re only happening in movies and video games as far as we know.
Source: www.sciencenews.org
