Its time to pour one out for the murder hornet.
V. mandariniais the largest hornet wasp living today.
The wasps are known to completely slaughter beehives within hours, often by decapitating their prey.
A close-up look at the northern giant hornet, aka the murder hornet.© Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty
They originate from Asia andfirst began to appearin the U.S. and Canada along the Pacific Northwest in 2019.
At the peak of its invasion, the scientists killed as many as1,500 hornetsper nest.
But since 2021, the hornet hasnt shown itself in the statewell, probably.
The WDSA did receive an image of a suspicious hornet from a resident in Kitsap County earlier this October.
The scientists werent able to obtain an actual specimen from that sighting, however.
Unfortunately, the murder hornet isnt the onlyinvasive bee-killing waspthats stirring up trouble in the U.S as of late.
And both native and farmed bees are still facingmany other dangersthreatening their population numbers.
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