Giant hornets known as the Murder Hornets (Vespa mandarinia) have been spotted in the US for the first time. These insects, also known as “hornets from hell” and “yak-killer hornets” are native to forests and low-altitude mountains in eastern and southeastern Asia, but troubling evidence suggests that the Murder hornet is beginning to make some headway in North America.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) verified two sightings of Asian giant hornets in early December 2019. It received two more accounts describing the invasive insects, but those remain unconfirmed. According to Washington State University (WSU), the origin of these hornets is still not known. “No one knows how the hornets arrived in the U.S., but they may have been introduced as other types of invasive insects have: They were deliberately released, or transported here as unseen stowaways in international cargo”, WSU representatives said in a statement.
Hornets are large members of the wasp family, and Asian giant hornets are the biggest hornets in the world. According to Animal Diversity Web (ADW), queens can grow to be 2 inches (5 centimetres) in length, with a wingspan of more than 3 inches (8 cm), while female workers and males are somewhat smaller, with body lengths of about 1 to 1.5 inches (3.5 to 3.9 cm). Only the females of the species have stingers, which can measure up to 0.2 inches (6 millimetres) long; the stingers can be used repeatedly, and they deliver a toxin that is considerably venomous.
V. mandarinia are social hornets, and they are the only known wasp species to coordinate attacks on bee colonies, which they carry out with deadly precision. Attacks on beehives happen in three phases, ADW says. First, the hornets hunt individual bees from a hive that has been chemically marked by one of their sisters. The hornets rip the bees to pieces, carrying the dismembered bits back to their own hive and feeding them to hornet larvae.
Next is the slaughter phase, when dozens of hornets attack the hive and massacre tens of thousands of bees. Within a few hours, a strong, healthy and populous honey bee colony of 30,000 to 50,000 workers is slaughtered by a group of 15 to 30 hornets.
Finally, the hornets move into the defeated hive. They chew up the abandoned bee larvae and pupae into a bee-brood paste, which the hornets also feed to their own young. During this stage, the hornets are especially aggressive and may attack animals and humans that are unfortunate enough to wander too close to the occupied beehive, WSU says.
– Subo
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