Animal of the week: The visitor from the east that recently caused alarm in the United States

As autumn arrives, wasps begin wandering again. Most familiar wasps are largely harmless, but the giant Asian hornet is a very different kind of visitor, one Finland would not welcome in its airspace.

The northern giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, is the world’s largest hornet and also its largest wasp. It can grow to roughly the size of a matchbox. The article describes it as a formidable predator because it eats bees and can reportedly tear apart as many as 40 honeybees in a minute.

The hornet can also pose a danger to people. In China, 42 people died from its stings in 2013, although the article notes that China’s population is about 1.4 billion, making such a sting an uncommon cause of death.

The United States experienced what the article calls hornet panic in 2020, when the insects were found in Washington state on the country’s northwestern coast. Authorities worked urgently to determine how they had entered the country. Researchers eventually captured and stunned a live hornet, attached a small transmitter to its abdomen with dental floss, and followed it after it recovered. The trail led them to a nest, which they eliminated.

The hornets are believed to have arrived with plants. In the United States, officials now prefer the name “northern giant hornet” to avoid negative associations with Asia. No giant Asian hornets have been found in Finland, and the country’s severe winter would defeat them in any case.