Seemingly overnight, another horror has emerged from the deep jungle recesses of Asia to invade the nightmares of squeamish North Americans: the Asian (or Japanese) Giant Hornet – better known as the “Murder Hornet”.
The hornet’s nicknamed is derived from three qualities, the first being that the ‘Murder Hornet’ is massive – more than 2 inches in diameter with the queens even bigger. The second is that their stings, which carry a powerful venom containing a pheromone attracting other hornets, have the potential to be lethal.
Oh, and third: these friggen hornets are meat-eaters. They eat other bees and insects, and have even been known to feast on rodents and small birds.
In Japan, about 50 people are killed each year by “Murder Hornet” swarms. Now that the bug has been found in the Pacific Northwest, some beekeepers fear it’s only a matter of time before they land in NYC.
A viral NYT story published in Sunday’s edition went viral overnight (we shared our thoughts on it here).
We noticed that one of the most popular videos on YouTube overnight was this demonstration of what it’s like to be stung by the deadly insect.
The clip is pretty intense – this is not recommended viewing for the easily disturbed.
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