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 …
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.
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 largest hornet in the world: «yak killer hornet» and «giant sparrow bee» among them.
