Here Come the Murder Hornets?

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The Internet is Now Terrified of Murder Hornets
By JAMIE LOVETT - May 2, 2020 03:14 pm EDT

[Linked Image from pyxis.nymag.com]

As if there wasn't enough going on this year with the global pandemic and all, The New York Times reports that the Asian giant hornet, also known as the "murder hornet," has been spotted in North America for the first time. The murder hornets were spotting in Washington state in the fall of 2019. According to the article, the murder hornets "use mandibles shaped like spiked shark fins to wipe out a honeybee hive in a matter of hours," decapitating the bees inside the hive. They're also capable of killing human beings and are responsible for killing an average of 50 people in Japan each year. According to reports, their venomous stingers "make for an excruciating combination that victims have likened to hot metal driving into their skin."

The hornets are described as having "teardrop eyes like Spider-Man, orange and black stripes that extend down its body like a tiger, and broad, wispy wings like a small dragonfly." They're already destroying beehives in Washington and could be here to stay if their migration isn't disrupted. Researchers are already considering how to keep these hornets in check before they spread throughout the continent. "This is our window to keep it from establishing," Washington state entomologist Chris Looney tells The New York Times. "If we can't do it in the next couple of years, it probably can't be done."

This news began going around on social media on Saturday and it's bringing out the gallows humor that so many people online have been clinging to deal with this year. We've gathered some of those reactions here. Keep reading to see how the internet is handling the news that murder hornets have arrived.

How are you taking the news about the murder hornets? Let us know how you feel about it in the comments section.

LINK
 
Wonder if they can be tamed ... might be a unique pet to have on a leash.
lol.gif
 
I seem to remember killer bees from the 70's, guess they didn't end the world either

wonder what the next one will be after this
 
Originally Posted by demarpaint
Wonderful................ I wonder it NY will be an epicenter.



I'm downstate your upstate....No reason for you to be locked down like we are.....AND chances are you'll get this bee and we wont'!
 
That thing is evil looking ! ... I'm allergic to bee stings , so obvious cause for concern if those creatures make it here in numbers - could be fun to hunt with a pellet gun though !
 
Originally Posted by ABN_CBT_ENGR
I seem to remember killer bees from the 70's, guess they didn't end the world either

wonder what the next one will be after this


Exactly. Another internet thing to needlessly scare people out of their minds.
 
I'm still waiting for the African bees to make it here. I've been waiting since 1978. They told us it would make it to Michigan in 5 years.
 
I recall the killer bees scare. Not sure why anyone thought bees from, and acclimated to, Africa were going to survive northern winters. I'm not sure the murder hornets will make it everywhere either. But I suspect Washington state is pretty close to parts of Japan in climate. They actually aren't that aggressive towards humans, but they wipe out honey bees, which are already under stress. That's what scares me, remember what Einstein said....
 
I read the leading entomologists are already on it, and can likely deal with the issue.

I won't worry about it until I have too, and neither should anyone else. What would that accomplish anyway?
 
Wasps are a problem in New Zealand, with no predators they are out of control...we certainly don't want this one ! And we won't introduce a predator to control them, been there done that...the predators don't have predators...
 
Originally Posted by Kestas
I'm still waiting for the African bees to make it here. I've been waiting since 1978. They told us it would make it to Michigan in 5 years.

Thinking that too.....
 
The Africanized "killer" bees have been in Texas for a few years. When they first got here they were a big problem, not so much now because they have been cross-breeding with tame domestic honeybees and they are not nearly as aggressive as they were.
 
Originally Posted by andyd
Asian bees have a defense

Yup - they generate enough friction by swarming the hornet to essentially cook it. I hope the bees here get the handbook with instructions how to do that!
 
Originally Posted by uc50ic4more
Originally Posted by andyd
Asian bees have a defense

Yup - they generate enough friction by swarming the hornet to essentially cook it. I hope the bees here get the handbook with instructions how to do that!


It's already programmed into their DNA.
 
I doubt they'll make it here in my lifetime, but working in land surveying I already have to worry a little about yellow jackets out in the woods. If these made it here it would be a little scary.

Obviously the biggest worry is about them taking out bee colonies. Hopefully the local bees can learn the heating technique to kill the hornets.
 
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