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Wikipedia link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet

Some fun quotes:

“Fatalities from envenomation are primarily related to anaphylactic shock or cardiac arrest.”

“Those who died, on average, were stung 59 times (with a standard deviation of 12)”

“Only a few hornets (under 50) can exterminate a colony of tens of thousands of bees in a few hours”

“ European honey bees have no innate defense against the hornets, which can rapidly destroy their colonies.”

And the wasps are also a dubious nutritional supplement.

> Planakis said that inside their venom “is a pheromone, which is like a magnet to other hornets.” > “So you can get swarmed just from getting stung by one.” > “The worst thing anyone can do with these things is kill them,” he said. “That scent is going to be airborne, and the rest of the hive will come.

Isn't this true for all kinds of wasps/hornets?

The NYTimes did a story on these hornets one day before the Post ran this story: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/us/asian-giant-hornet-was...

There's a second story today about how Japanese honey bees swarm these hornets, raise the temperature, and cook them alive: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/us/murder-hornets-asian-g... There's a cool video to go along: https://youtu.be/awoV5Wj9Iys

> The NYTimes did a story on these hornets one day before the Post ran this story:

Who cares? There have been reports by other news organizations for months now? Does the exist of these hornets change whether it is reported by the nytimes or not?

https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2019/12/huge-invasive...

> There's a second story today about how Japanese honey bees swarm these hornets, raise the temperature, and cook them alive:

This has been on social media for many many years. Nothing new or worthwhile really.

> There's a cool video to go along: https://youtu.be/awoV5Wj9Iys

See. 2017.

We have a lot of unemployed people right now who could be helping wipe these guys out.

> Planakis said that in China, they have hornet hunters.

> “There’s a tracker, and what they do is they set up a water source, and they wait there, like a deer hunter would,” he said.

> “As soon as they see the hornet coming to the water source to drink, the guy jumps out with a net, and he grabs it. Then, ever so carefully, he ties a strong on it and lets it go.

> “There’s a spotter watching it now with binoculars, and he watches this thing as it flies, because obviously it’s going to fly back to the nest. When they find it, they mark where the nest is.

> “And at night they come back and with a flame-thrower, pretty much go at it, just follow them back to their base camp, and when they least expect it, boom, go after them.”

It's outdoors, it's socially distanced, it's the perfect job for the Covid-19 economy.

I’ve seen this movie, did we learn nothing from Ridley Scott? Nuke them from high orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.
The next big scare? Why would someone bring to the US a colony of them (or a number big enough to make one)?

Anyway, I can't stop thinking on P.K.Dick's Meddler, but with hornets instead of blue butterflies. Try to avoid bringing them from the future.

As I understand it they were stowaways on a container ship.
> “The worst thing anyone can do with these things is kill them,” he said. “That scent is going to be airborne, and the rest of the hive will come.

Sounds like good bait for a hornet trap.

lyme disease ticks, asian murder hornets... what would be a nice third candidate to gain footing here for an unholy trinity?
Brown widow spiders. The ticks spread by the wasps; the spiders prey on the wasps and ticks; the wasps on the spiders and ticks.
(comment deleted)
Mosquito borne diseases like Eee or Zika etc are more than enough already.
This is the one. Asian tiger mosquito. Needs to be wiped out with generic engineering