Wikipedia | Yasunori Koide

'Murder Hornets' Are The Latest Curveball 2020 Is Throwing At North America

Updated September 8, 2021

Okay, whoever last said the words, "At least 2020 can't possibly get worse," needs to buy the next round of drinks for the world, because you jinxed it.

Bushfires in Australia, impeachment craziness in the US, Venice floods, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 accident, worst mass shooting in Canadian history, and probably dozens of other crises I'm not thinking of have already made 2020 insane.

Oh, and a little novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Can't forget that.

After all this, how could it get worse?

If you had "murder hornets" in the 2020 Suckitude Pool, congratulations. You get a cookie.

However, to receive your tasty winnings, I'll have to place it on a table and then stand six feet away while you retrieve it, because social distancing, amirite?

So yeah...murder hornets. Murder. Hornets.

Technically, these little monsters are called Asian giant hornets.

Wikimedia Commons | Gary Alpert

Thankfully, the "giant" is in relation to the average size of other hornet species and not us. So we don't have to call these Giant Murder Hornets.

So yeah, that's a silver lining, right?

Reddit | exxocet

These nasty bugs average about two inches in length and have been spotted in North America for the first time in Washington state.

These hornets are highly venomous and have been known to kill humans.

Wikimedia Commons | Alpsdake

Being stung has been described as feeling "like a hot nail through [your] leg."

Cool. Coolcoolcool.

Reddit | Jhenning04

Thankfully — I guess — for most people, multiple stings are required to receive a high enough dose of venom to kill.

Still, it's easy to see why people would be nervous about watching someone handle one of them like this.

The beings facing the biggest threat from these stinging monsters are honey bees.

Wikimedia Commons | I, KENPEI

Obviously, with bee populations in decline lately, any new threat is of serious concern and these murder hornets are particularly nasty.

Swarms of the hornets will attack a bee colony, killing the adult bees and devouring the young.

Reddit | Pardusco

Bee keepers have described finding piles of beheaded bees where productive hives have been days before.

Needless to say, if you spot one of these big orange and black bastards, don't try to deal with them yourself.

Wikipedia | Filippo Turetta

The Washington state Department of Agriculture has requested that any sightings be reported to them directly, ASAP.

Meanwhile, I've decided to just consider the words "murder hornets" another great reason to spend 2020 as an indoor girl.

h/t: CNN

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