Murder hornets vacuumed from Washington hive by space-suited bug pros

paumotu

Arachnobaron
Active Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
386
“Murder Hornets”... anything to get someone to click the article.

Anyways, glad they got one. US pollinators are screwed up as it is, they don’t need any more stresses, especially not in the form of a Giant nonnative hornet.
 

GhostMouse

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
47
Honeybees: imported livestock in zero danger due to careful cultivation who outcompete important native pollinators
Important Native Pollinators: the ones in actual danger and what science broz mean when they say "save the bees" and prob not in particular danger from AGH because they don't make big ol hives for the most part and are thus less worth their time

So I mean, Asian Giant Hornets might not be so bad. They'll be a mess for beekeepers mind you, as well as for drunks or teens who are particularly stupid or hikers who are particularly unlucky, and I'll "bee honest" that I'd prefer they not make a population here, we've enough non-natives causing trouble and also this "murder hornets" malarkey is absolutely maddening, buuuutttttt not the disaster they're being made out to be.

Other common name for Asian Giant Hornet is the Sparrow Bee because of their size. Locals no likey these aggressive friends because they are one of the species who can spray acid and will tend to do so right in your face, and once they do you're also marked and a sting from even one will edit up your day pretty bad let alone the whole girl gang. But though they do kill about 40 people a year on average, which is no joke, it's better than it could be because they tend to prefer to live in the mountains which, in Japan, are very sparsely populated. The Pacific NW is decently populated but has swathes of wooded wilds so it could go either way re: running into people. I don't know if I'd mind tree poachers and other deep woods ne'er do wells getting stung up by them, but not worth the risk overall I'd say.
 
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Salmonsaladsandwich

Arachnolord
Joined
Jul 28, 2016
Messages
633
The fact that hornets showed up in 2019 and they found a mature nest in 2020 means they're likely already somewhat established, so there's an excellent chance that they'll never be gone for good.

I keep seeing news articles talking about this like its a victory, because the "first nest discovered was successfully destroyed", but the way their colony cycle works is that young queens leave the nests, mate and fly off to form new colonies in September and October. Washington has a similar climate to their native range in Japan, so even if this was the only nest (which it probably isn't), since it wasn't destroyed until late October means it probably already sent off its queens.
 

Introvertebrate

Arachnoprince
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Dec 18, 2010
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1,199
I guess all they can hope for is to slow the progress. Kind of like a pandemic we’re dealing with.
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
These people going in to get them have more protection than our current COVID-19 first responders.

It will be interesting to see if hornet enthusiasts start keeping this species...I wonder...

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

GhostMouse

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
47
It will be interesting to see if hornet enthusiasts start keeping this species...I wonder...
I'd love to see the videos from Hornet King on an Asian Giant Hornet keeping journey, lol. His series keeping the European hornets was really fun! I hope they wait to take over Michigan until after I die because as much as I find wasps to be fascinating, important animals, I still can't cure my phobia of them and would greatly prefer not to have to potentially see a live and uncontained one that size. XD
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
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Jul 11, 2016
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2,462
Can't say I've heard of that fellow before, I'll have to check him out.

Probably best to face your fear instead of banking on that chance, ha ha.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

GhostMouse

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
47
Can't say I've heard of that fellow before, I'll have to check him out.

Probably best to face your fear instead of banking on that chance, ha ha.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
Oh yes yes, he has a channel on YouTube! He started out because he gets hired to remove problem wasp nests from homes and yards. He takes the comb and feeds the larvae to his chickens (and rescued squirrel lol). He got interested in them and gets wonderful footage- most of what I know about them I learned from watching his videos because he really goes deeply into their interesting little lives. I already knew they were totally metal with the workers starving after the larvae stopped coming in late summer and early fall, but from him I learned how organized and efficient they are and how the larvae drum on the comb, scraping it with their mandibles to signal that they need food, and how the nests are built, and a lot more. Some of the nests he is able to relocate to his own property, and he raised a European hornet queen and built a box for her to make a colony in (she chose to go find a tree instead). Thanks to him I was able to make my fears much much better than they were- I still can't handle the thought of one landing on me but can watch them outside without freaking out or running away. I love arthropods (well, obviously lol) but wasps and the larger bumblebees are just very unsettling to me. It's a bit embarrassing perhaps, but I can't do much about it except keep learning about them and hope I can override the lizard brain one day. Part of it I'll never be able to do anything about- I have certain noise sensitivities and the frequency of buzzing of large winged insects in flight feels somewhat akin to having someone rub tinfoil over my back teeth, can't stand it. There are certain airplane engines that make that sound too and I hate when they are flying overhead. If I heard one of these Asian ladies I'm sure I'd head for the hills. XD
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
Old Timer
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Aug 8, 2005
Messages
11,047
This is utter bull crap. Ignore the man behind the curtain! The giant Asian ranges from Russia down through Malaysia and a little into Indonesia and from Korea on through India. And we have a strong, growing honey industry throughout nearly that entire range. Got bee die offs? Take a good hard look at the chemical industries in the US. The hornets are such small change as to be irrelevant minor nuisances.
A far greater hazard are certain species of bees. They swarm and build wax monstrosities in a few weeks. Smack in the center of Chiang Mai at Chedi Luang several huge nests were discovered covering over several centuries old wood carvings. Attempting to dislodge the nests over 20 acolyte monks were badly stung. To fully remove the wax from the delicate wood requires hours of intensive labor using hair dryers to heat the wax and mountains of rags to wipe it away inch by inch.
 
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Smotzer

ArachnoGod
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Jan 17, 2020
Messages
5,275
Take a good hard look at the chemical industries in the US
It’s this, but everyone always wants to turn a blind eye and blame other things, but no this has a large part in it, I used to do pesticide work and chemicals are no joke and they do damage and kill insects, it’s what insecticides are produced to do hahahah. Like really people....we don’t want to blame pesticides..!?
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Apparently it's easier to pay a guy to come and kill everything around your house and blame a "terrifying" (fascinating is a better word I think), invasive species.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 
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