A Spanish man has died after being stung by a murder hornet. Local media reports reveal that the man was stung by the hornet in his eyebrow, as he tried to tend a wasp nest close to a beehive he owned. The victim has been identified as a 54-year-old man who lives in Villestro, Galicia.
Murder hornet threats rise in the United States
Murder hornets, a species of deadly insects from Asia were initially spotted in Washington a week back. These creatures measure two centimetres in length, and it has the capability to wipe out bee colonies within hours. According to a New York Times report, these hornets kill up to 50 people a year in Japan, and this is for the first time that they have reached the United States.
Experts believe that the arrival of murder hornets could drastically impact the insect population in the country, thus affecting the entire agriculture sector.
"Millions and millions of innocent native insects are going to die as a result of this. Folks in China, Korea, and Japan have lived side by side with these hornets for hundreds of years, and it has not caused the collapse of human society there. My colleagues in Japan, China and Korea are just rolling their eyes in disbelief at what kind of snowflakes we are of this," Dr Dough Yanega, a professor of entomology at the University of California, Riverside told the Los Angeles Times.
Department of Agriculture issues warning
As murder hornets are now spotted in Washington, the Department of Agriculture has issued instructions on how to trap these hornets. However, the department made it clear that trapping measures should not be adopted in other states, as hornet sightings are confined only in Washington.
"Asian giant hornets pose a risk to human health. While they do not generally bother humans, they will attack if they feel threatened. There are no known sightings of Asian giant hornets anywhere else in the United States and trapping for them there will likely do more harm than good by catching native desirable insects. PLEASE DO NOT TRAP FOR ASIAN GIANT HORNETS IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE OF WASHINGTON STATE," warned the Department of Agriculture.
