Bug experts dismiss worry about US 'murder hornets' as hype
by Seth Borenstein
Insect experts say people should calm down about the big bug with the nickname "murder hornet"—unless you are a beekeeper or a honeybee.
The Asian giant hornets found in Washington state that grabbed headlines this week aren't big killers of humans, although it does happen on rare occasions. But the world's largest hornets do decapitate entire hives of honeybees, and that crucial food pollinator is already in big trouble.
Numerous bug experts told The Associated Press that what they call hornet "hype" reminds them of the 1970s public scare when Africanized honeybees, nicknamed "killer bees," started moving north from South America. While these more aggressive bees did make it up to Texas and the Southwest, they didn't live up to the horror-movie moniker. However, they also do kill people in rare situations.
This time it's hornets with the homicidal nickname, which bug experts want to ditch.
"They are not 'murder hornets.' They are just hornets," said Washington Agriculture Department entomologist Chris Looney, who is working on the state's worst on record. That's because of problems such as mites, diseases, pesticides and loss of food.
The new hornets would be different. If they get into a hive, they tear the heads off worker bees and the hive pretty much dies. Asian honeybees have defenses—they start buzzing, raising the temperature and cook the invading hornet to death—but honeybees in America don't.
The worry for beekeeping in Washington is based on a worst-case scenario that officials have to take seriously, Looney said.
Yet even for bees, the invasive hornets are far down on the list of real threats, not as big a worry as the parasitic "zombie fly" because more of those have been seen in several states, Berenbaum said.
For people, the hornets are scary because the world is already frightened by coronavirus and our innate fight-or-flight mechanisms are activated, putting people on edge, said risk expert David Ropeik, author of "How Risky Is It, Really?"
"This year is unbelievable in a horrible, horrible way. Why shouldn't there be murder hornets?" Berenbaum said.
Citation:
Bug experts dismiss worry about US 'murder hornets' as hype (2020, May 7)
retrieved 5 January 2023
from https://phys.org/news/2020-05-bug-experts-dismiss-hornets-hype.html
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Bug experts dismiss worry about US 'murder hornets' as hype
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