War against "murder hornets" turns as scientists successfully use method to locate and destroy nests
Washington state has announced the destruction of the first murder hornet nest of 2021
One of the many signs of the apocalypse vomited forth from the roiling guts of 2020 was a report from The New York Times about the arrival of “murder hornets,” an invasive species of insect known less impressively as the Asian giant hornet. These bugs are an issue not just because they’re huge and frightening, but also because they like to eat their tinier, less murder-y cousins and could devastate North American bee populations if left unchecked. They’re also hard to track down and kill.
Luckily, scientists have now successfully employed a technique that may turn the tide in the great murder hornet war.
Since last year, brave soldiers on the Washington front have been trying to take the battle to the murder hornet’s homes by attaching trackers to their big scary bug bodies so their well-hidden nests can be located. After a couple of failures, the plan has finally worked and the first nest of the year was destroyed last week.
