"Scientists are hoping to reduce negative and nationalistic associations with the bee-slaying insect that is turning up in the Pacific Northwest."
"It’s big. It’s bad. It will take off your head, eat your family and destroy your home. If you are a honeybee, that is.
Since it was found in the Pacific Northwest in 2019, the world’s largest hornet, Vespa mandarinia, has concerned environmentalists and beekeepers alike. The insect, native to parts of Asia, is usually around an inch and a half long with a wide, mustard-colored head and a striped body. It has an appetite for bees and other insects and can decimate hives in hours. Its presence in North America has sparked a desperate effort to eradicate the small population before it is permanently established.
Mandarinia’s superlative size, painful sting and violent tendencies have made it a popular topic in the media, where it has been referred to as the “Asian giant hornet” and the “murder hornet.” On Monday, though, the Entomological Society of America, or E.S.A., introduced a new common name for the insect: the Northern giant hornet."
