“Haha remember when murder-hornets were gonna be a thing? What a nothingburger.”
Yes, because the Washington state government activated like a sleeper-cell and ruthlessly, systematically hunted them down and annihilated them.
“Y2K came to nothing amirite?”
Yes because an army of software engineers working around the clock, losing sleep, and busting ass till the last minute prevented it from happening.
“Remember the hole in the ozone layer?”
You mean the one that was fixed through rigorous world wide government action?
One of the root problems of our society is a refusal or inability by media to articulate that all those “it’s gonna be an apocalypse” disasters were not disasters because we collectively did something about them.
The good news is this is actually quite correctable. I maintain my firm belief that we as humans are capable of solving almost all of our problems, when we decide to do so.
And I still think that’s going to happen. I don’t know when or how, but I do know that abandoning hope won’t help bring it about.
And I refuse to let the cynics own a chunk of my heart.
The world’s largest hornet has been declared eradicated in the U.S. The invasive northern giant hornet is also known as the “murder hornet”
"The world’s largest hornet, an invasive breed dubbed the “murder hornet” for its dangerous sting and ability to slaughter a honey bee hive in a matter of hours, has been declared eradicated in the U.S., five years after being spotted for the first time in Washington state near the Canadian border.
The Washington and U.S. Departments of Agriculture announced the eradication Wednesday [December 18, 2024], saying there had been no detections of the northern giant hornet in Washington since 2021...
“I’ve gotta tell you, as an entomologist — I’ve been doing this for over 25 years now, and it is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects,” Sven Spichiger, pest program manager of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told a virtual news conference.
The hornets, which can be 2 inches (5 cm) long and were formerly called Asian giant hornets, gained attention in 2013, when they killed 42 people in China and seriously injured 1,675. In the U.S., around 72 people a year die from bee and hornet stings each year, according to data from the National Institutes of Health.
The hornets were first detected in North America in British Columbia, Canada, in August 2019 and confirmed in Washington state in December 2019, when a Whatcom County resident reported a specimen. A beekeeper also reported hives being attacked and turned over specimens in the summer of 2020. The hornets could have traveled to North America in plant pots or shipping containers, experts said.
DNA evidence suggested the populations found in British Columbia and Washington were not related and appeared to originate from different countries. There also have been no confirmed reports in British Columbia since 2021, and the nonprofit Invasive Species Centre in Canada has said the hornet is also considered eradicated there.
Northern giant hornets pose significant threats to pollinators and native insects. They can wipe out a honey bee hive in as little as 90 minutes, decapitating the bees and then defending the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young.
The hornet can sting through most beekeeper suits, deliver nearly seven times the amount of venom as a honey bee, and sting multiple times. At one point the Washington agriculture department ordered special reinforced suits from China.
Washington is the only state that has had confirmed reports of northern giant hornets. Trappers found four nests in 2020 and 2021.
Spichiger said Washington will remain on the lookout, despite reporting the eradication. He noted that entomologists will continue to monitor traps in Kitsap County, where a resident reported an unconfirmed sighting in October but where trapping efforts and public outreach have come up empty...
“We will continue to be vigilant,” Spichiger said."
You guys are aware that we, the US, eliminated the murder hornet infestation from our country? Like, it was a thing that people talked about in 2020, but most of us never got follow-up on what was going on with that.
MURDER HORNET . Shot 2. Here is a lovely side shot of the specimen of Vespa manderinia that Izzy Hill lent us for a mini photo shoot (specimen was purchased online quite a while ago...so not sure of its exact provenance). These pictures are free to use in any way you wish. Have fun. <b> ~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~</b>
All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.
#murderhornet #wasps #wasp
The northern giant hornet, which was first found in the U.S. in 2019, hasn't been detected in three years, officials said. It posed a threat
So-called murder hornets have been eradicated from the United States, officials announced Wednesday, five years after the invasive species was first identified in Washington state.
The northern giant hornet has not been detected in three years, prompting officials to announce its eradication from the United States,the Washington and U.S. Agriculture departments said in a joint statement Wednesday.
Officials said the multiyear effort to eradicate the species, which began in 2019, involved "extensive collaboration between state, federal, and international government agencies as well as significant support from community members and groups."
"I'm incredibly proud of our team, which has dedicated years of hard work to safeguarding our state and the nation from this invasive threat to our native pollinators and agriculture," Washington Agriculture Director Derek Sandison said in the statement.
Sven Spichiger, the department’s pest program manager, pointed to the public's help, noting that "all of our nest detections resulted directly or indirectly from public reports." He added that half of all confirmed hornet detections also came from the public.
The (so far) main antagonist will be based on two different kinds of wasp, one docile and one incredibly aggressive. His PAK will also have wings instead of legs.
TW: Insects, deceased insects below
osprynchotus flavipes (no common name)
This is a species of Ichneumon wasp, a parasitoid wasp which does not sting and is harmless to humans and pets (that stinger looking thing on their abdomen is actually for laying eggs, grasshoppers have them as well and for these wasps, they can be very long!)
They control insect population by hunting other insects and laying their eggs inside of them, to which their babies act like chestbursters... isn't that lovely?
Mostly, I'm using this wasp for visual aesthetic, but there will be ao6me parasitoid behavior as well. You'll have to wait and see!
Vespa mandarinia (Asian Giant Hornet, Northern Goant Hornet, Japanese Giant Hornet, or Murder Hornet)
This is an infamous species of Hornet (which if you didn't know, is a type of aggressive wasp) which is considered to be an invasive predator.
It decapitates and feeds on bees, and will eat other insects and in some cases small rodents.
Despite people assuming their sting is immediately deadly, it would take multiple stings or an allergic reaction to actually prove lethal.
Because these hornets feed on bees, in this timeline, Irkens are immune to them and likely cpnsider them to be a delicacy.
Some visual representation will be taken from this wasp, although it is mostly behavior that I'm using it for.
