From: slider@atashram.com

An invasive hornet species slaughters honeybees, can be deadly to humans
and –unfortunately – has been spotted in the United States.

A small number of Asian giant hornet sightings in the Pacific Northwest
has raised alarm after a nickname for the predators started trending on
Twitter Saturday: "Murder Hornet." While experts have been tracking the invasive species in the U.S. for months, a New York Times feature
published Saturday brought nickname to the national consciousness.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/05/02/what-murder-hornets-asian-giant-hornets-here-us/3072996001/

It's a fittingly upsetting nickname, based on a lengthy March
presentation from Washington State Department of Agriculture entomologist Chris Looney. It opened with a slide listing other ominous titles for the
the largest hornet in the world: "yak killer hornet" and "giant sparrow
bee" among them.

This spring, the Washington state Department of Agriculture started
hunting for Asian giant hornets after two confirmed sightings of the
predator.

And while officials are concerned, especially for local honeybee
populations, the danger to the average person is low at this time Looney, confirmed to USA TODAY Saturday.

The hornets are "probably not going to murder someone ... don’t panic," Looney said.

Sightings have been limited to the Pacific Northwest, although the smaller European hornet is sometimes mistaken for the Asian giant hornet on the
East Coast.

For humans unfortunate enough come in contact with an Asian giant hornet, Looney had simple advice in his March presentation: "Just run away."

The predators kill between 40 and 50 people annually in Japan – many
victims suffer from allergies, but some have died from the potency of the
venom alone, he said.

Rare complications can include localized necrosis, respiratory failure,
kidney failure, liver damage and blood clots.

But the more immediate danger in the United States is to an already
vulnerable honeybee population.

Looney described a lifecycle where Asian giant hornets attack individual honeybees in the early summer – turning prey into a "meatball" to feed to hornet larvae. Soon, the hornets abandon this "hunting phase" in favor of
the “slaughter phase” – the wholesale killing of bee colonies so the hornets can plunder their hives.

Efforts to contain the spread of the hornets, which prey on virtually any insect in addition to honeybees, have been ramping up in recent weeks,
Looney said Saturday.

One thing local residents can do to help: Report suspected sightings to
the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

### - the image/pic of this giant 'murder hornet' someone is holding says
it all lol:

although: fuck that! buzz the fuck off! and lastly: ruuuuuuuuun! also
comes to mind ahaha...

'disconcertingly large' i'd call it lol

ya defo don't want one of these up yer khyber-pass anyway that's for sure!

ffs! haha :)))

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* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)