Giant Hornets Attack Chinese Farmers Killing 42
B. McPherson Is it a case of nature gone nuts? Not quite, but farmers in north west China are coping with aggressive and poisonous giant hornets. Over 40 people have been killed and more than 1600 have been attacked. The hornets in question belong to the species Vespa mandarina and also Vespa velutina. V. mandarina is native to East Asia and is the largest known hornet. Wikipedia refers to it as a Yak Killer . V. mandarina is described as about the length of an adult’s thumb and packs a whallop to match its size. The very toxic venom injected can dissolve tissue, affect nerves and bring about kidney failure. The bug is common in Japan where an entomologist described being stung by one of the beasts. Masato Ono, an entomologist at Tamagawa University near Tokyo, described the sensation as feeling "like a hot nail being driven into my leg". [3] Wikipedia The official Chinese news outlet Xinhua News, has not given a definitive ...