Over the weekend, 2020 managed to get even worse as a year when The New York Times reported that Asian giant hornets — or “Murder Hornets” — had been discovered in North America for the first time.
This development was unwelcome news for obvious reasons: Nobody wants to encounter a three-inch hornet with a stinger that can penetrate beekeeper suits. Plus, a sting from a “Murder Hornet” can kill a human if that person takes multiple stings. But even one sting — as we saw from YouTuber Coyote Peterson — looks extremely unpleasant.
It’s a whole lot of NOPE from our perspective.
But when it comes to the already-dwindling honeybee population, the arrival of Murder Hornets to North America is a huge concern as these hornets attack and kill entire hives to feast on larva. In Japan, at least, the honeybees do have a defense against Murder Hornets where they lure in a scout hornet, swarm the insect and create enough energy to “cook” the intruder.
A video of this defense was particularly satisfying to watch. Go bees!
The way Japanese bees deal with murder hornets is just brutal but satisfying. pic.twitter.com/8zjUloVzPY
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) May 5, 2020
While Japanese honeybees have developed this defense mechanism against Murder Hornets, the honeybees in North America have not and would be especially vulnerable if these hornets spread across the continent.
University of Arizona associate entomology professor Katy Prudic explained in a recent newsletter:
Japanese honeybees have evolved an ambush defense against these hornets. When a hornet scout finds a honeybee hive, the honeybees lure her in, then collectively pounce on the hornet, beating their wings as much as they can. This flurry attack raises the temperature around the hornet, eventually killing her and a few of the honeybees closest to her. The hive will remain undiscovered to the hornet colony and live to see another day.
This adaptation is not seen in European honeybees, which are common domesticated pollinators used in our agriculture systems. So, if this hornet becomes a pest, we might have to figure out a way to get them to behave more like a Japanese honeybee through some sort of genetic modification.
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
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