Giant Asian Hornets. (coming to America?)

Hi.

The bugs are huge and really give me the creeps.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

What's the buzz about giant Asian hornets? They'll kill you painfully and thoroughly -- and they've been reported in the U.S.

(I don't know how to upload a pic but there is a pic on the linked page.)

According to The Guardian, at least "28 people have died and hundreds have been injured in a wave of attacks by giant hornets in central China." The hornets, also known as Vespa mandarinia, have reportedly "chased [victims] for hundreds of meters... and stung [them] as many as 200 times."

The average stinger on a giant Asian hornet measures about a quarter-inch. The hornets were reported in Illinois last year.

The hornets are about the size of your thumb. I don't have a bee phobia but I do have a giant Asian hornet phobia.

Holy Crap! I think we may have them in MI!
A girl I work with killed a wasp that big this past weekend and took a picture of it.
I'm going to try to upload it here.
The stinger scares the heck out of me, it's so big.

reply to post by chiefsmom


Wow! Good thing winter is coming.

They are huge! I can't imagine being stung by one of those monsters.

I saw pictures of some queen hornets yesterday on the internet. OH. MY. GOD.
I would imagine the venom of a sting of even one of those hornets would make someone
very sick. I understand the worker hornets are smaller .. but still ... WOW.
I can't imagine surviving the sting of even two or three let alone a swarm.

The coloring is different, more like the yellowjackets that we have around here, so I'm wondering if they are able to breed with ours?

Scary stuff




Wish the last one wasn't so blurry, but you can definitely see how big that stinger is!!!

reply to post by chiefsmom


I don't know but whatever it is it's big. I bet it is one of the asian hornets.

I read an article on a different website and it says they feed on bees.

EDIT - Look at that stinger.......ouch!!!!

reply to post by chiefsmom


I haven't seen them in the UP yet. I have seen some huge bumblebees though. The bumblebees seem docile though but a bumble bee the size of a small bat does deserve respect and caution.

Damn, saw your pictures. I'm going to have to get some number eight shot shells for the 12 gauge pump shotgun.

As a beekeeper I just want people to know that hornets are wasps, not bees. Huge difference. Don't want any backlash to break out against bees.

reply to post by jtma508


No worries here. Bees are great. Although they are going to be a concern if these buggers eat them.
Not like they don't already have enough problems!

reply to post by tweetybird0428


That's not a wasp, that's a small bird

Here is an interesting article I found online:

Giant hornets have killed dozens of people in China
www.breakingnews.ie...

According to the Associated Press, more than 100 people in the Angkang city area of Shaanxi province have been stung by swarms of the insects in recent months, and treated in Ankang City Central Hospital.
Eighteen of them have died, according to health officials, but a local state-run newspaper claimed 21 have died in hospitals.
The insect responsible is believed to be the Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia), the largest insect of its type in the world with an extremely potent sting which can cause anaphylactic shock and renal failure.

Huge Queen Wasps Picture

Seems as though these so called Hornets are going everywhere in the world...

Here are two previous threads posted on the subject pretty recently...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by tweetybird0428


The picture you posted with the wasp on a shovel is called a Cicada Killer. They have been around as long as cicadas have.
en.wikipedia.org...

Also, we do have giant hornets and in the states they are also called European Hornets. They were introduced in the 1800's and are not common
en.wikipedia.org...

Don't worry, so far I know of no Asian or Japanese hornets loose in the US.

reply to post by Skywatcher2011


That video is very cool! (a little disturbing but impressive.)

FIRST SIGHTINGS IN FLORIDA

EXPERTS ADVISE TO STAY INDOORS, GRAB THE NEAREST FIREARM, AND PRAY.

davethebear
Seems as though these so called Hornets are going everywhere in the world...

Here are two previous threads posted on the subject pretty recently...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

My mistake, I did a quick search but missed the threads.

tweetybird0428

davethebear
Seems as though these so called Hornets are going everywhere in the world...

Here are two previous threads posted on the subject pretty recently...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

My mistake, I did a quick search but missed the threads.

Don't worry about it tweetybird. Loads of folks have a moan about posts being too similar to other posts, but posts move that quickly and people have time away from ATS. At the end of the day if some ATS members haven't seen the information before, then it gives them the opportunity to do so, and all the others that have seen the info, they don't have to try and stop members contributing really, do they?

reply to post by tweetybird0428

Had one of these buzzing me a few weeks ago...
It was the variety that is colored a lot like a yellow jacket.
The sucker freaked me out.
My son's German Shepherd was watching me back away...and back away again...and again...and finally jumped into action, chasing the hornet away.
I am, in West Texas... So - these things ARE in the continental U.S. now.
(I believe that they are also colloquially called cicada-killers.)

reply to post by WanDash


My dog would have turn and ran. lol

Sometimes I think he's where the saying, "all bark and no bite" originated.

tweetybird0428
reply to post by WanDash

 

My dog would have turn and ran. lol
Sometimes I think he's where the saying, "all bark and no bite" originated.

Yeah - he was just curious as to what was making me act so freakishly.
Don't know what he would have done if he'd caught it...
I was holding a cup of coffee in my hand -- so -- don't know if that's why the hornet kept coming at me...or if it would have come at me in any case.
Only saw it one more time (within the following few days), and it wasn't as obnoxious on that occasion.