"Murder Hornets"
Most of us would concur that hornets and other insects with stingers are not our favorites, and we usually can avoid and ignore them. Except perhaps when there is a new "Super Stinger" that poses an imminent threat to us and our food supply. Last fall. a menacing variety of the Asian Hornet was discovered in the Pacific Northwest. Swift action was taken by the Washington State Department of Agriculture in October to address this problem. A group of scientists was dispatched to Blaine, Washington, to deal with a nest inhabited by 500 live specimens of the world's largest hornet growing to 2 inches long and nicknamed, the "murder hornet!" Its toxic venom can cause organ failure and death. These highly trained specialists also found 200 queens in the nest who were capable of mating and multiplying this threat and quickly it spreading to additional areas. This threatening species was first detected in the United States in December of 2019 and since then, scientists...