17 votes

‘Murder hornets’ in the US: The rush to stop the Asian giant hornet

5 comments

  1. [2]
    Turtle
    Link
    update on etymology of "murder hornet": I emailed "Jun-Ichi Takahashi", the professor interviewed in the article. Here's his response: It appears to be a Japanese term translated to English....
    • Exemplary

    update on etymology of "murder hornet":

    I emailed "Jun-Ichi Takahashi", the professor interviewed in the article. Here's his response:

    It is a general name and not an academic term.
    It is used by the media such as TV and newspapers in Japan.

    It appears to be a Japanese term translated to English. Mystery solved! Interesting to see how this is basically the main term for the species on the internet now. The birth of a neologism!

    @Sand if you were curious.

    9 votes
    1. Sand
      Link Parent
      Well there we go! I also just saw that the name has now been removed from wikipedia.

      Well there we go! I also just saw that the name has now been removed from wikipedia.

      3 votes
  2. [2]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. Turtle
      Link Parent
      I found this on the wiki page: Maybe we should start cultivating the Japanese honey bees as well? I'm not optimistic about our chances of exterminating this TBH.

      I found this on the wiki page:

      Although a handful of Asian giant hornets can easily defeat the uncoordinated defenses of a honey bee colony, the Japanese honey bee (Apis cerana japonica) has an effective strategy. When a hornet scout locates and approaches a Japanese honey bee hive, she emits specific pheromonal hunting signals. When the Japanese honey bees detect these pheromones, a hundred or so gather near the entrance of the nest and set up a trap, keeping the entrance open. This permits the hornet to enter the hive. As the hornet enters, a mob of hundreds of bees surrounds it in a ball, completely covering it and preventing it from reacting effectively. The bees violently vibrate their flight muscles in much the same way as they do to heat the hive in cold conditions. This raises the temperature in the ball to the critical temperature of 46 °C (115 °F). In addition, the exertions of the honeybees raise the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the ball. At that concentration of CO2, they can tolerate up to 50 °C (122 °F), but the hornet cannot survive the combination of high temperature and high carbon dioxide level.

      Maybe we should start cultivating the Japanese honey bees as well? I'm not optimistic about our chances of exterminating this TBH.

      10 votes
  3. [2]
    Turtle
    (edited )
    Link
    Kind of off topic but interesting (maybe?): I can't find any sources calling this a 'murder hornet' besides some news reports from yesterday. The wikipedia page just added the name today (like a...

    Kind of off topic but interesting (maybe?): I can't find any sources calling this a 'murder hornet' besides some news reports from yesterday. The wikipedia page just added the name today (like a few hours ago) and references this article. Did someone straight up make this up?

    edit: It seems there isn't any independent reporting on this not from the NYT. So the only attested use comes from this article.

    4 votes
    1. Sand
      Link Parent
      If we wanted to know for sure we could contact Kyoto Sangyo University and ask about the name.

      If we wanted to know for sure we could contact Kyoto Sangyo University and ask about the name.

      3 votes