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Say your prayers, murder hornets.
As if the coronavirus pandemic weren’t enough to give people nightmares this year, headlines about giant Asian “murder hornets” landing in the U.S. for the first time have had some people musing that the end is nigh.
The flying, meat-eating insects that grow more than 2 inches long can kill up to 50 people a year in Japan, and are known to decimate bee hives.
But all hope is not yet lost: tales of plucky bugs fighting back have been gaining a lot of buzz on social media.
A pretty gory video of a praying mantis grabbing a murder hornet from behind, and then chewing its face off and eating its brain, has gone viral across Twitter TWTR, +3.16%, Facebook FB, +1.22% and reddit, leading “praying mantis” to trend on Twitter on Thursday. Watch it here, but be warned that it’s pretty graphic.
It’s gruesome stuff, but many viewers cheered the mantis for taking down the Asian giant hornet notorious for decapitating bees and wiping out entire honeybee hives in a matter of hours. The hornets also produce a potent venom in their long stingers that reportedly feels like a hot nail being driven into one’s flesh when people get stung by them. A grisly 2018 video shows a murder hornet killing a mouse in seconds.
This is really more of an underdog story, however, as National Geographic warned in 2002 that “bees, other hornet species, and larger insects such as praying mantises are no match for the giant hornets, which often stalk their prey in relentless armies.” (The same article notes that murder hornet venom is strong enough to “disintegrate human flesh.”)
Related:Giant ‘murder hornet’ is in U.S. to stay, will eventually reach East Coast, experts say
Of course, the praying mantis is also known for being a cunning hunter in its own right, eating everything from bees, moths, beetles and crickets to even small birds, like hummingbirds.
And the female mantis is notorious for occasionally cannibalizing her male partner after mating.
A photograph of Japanese honeybees fighting back against a murder hornet is also making the rounds online. Turns out, these honeybees can form “hot defensive bee balls” by swarming a giant hornet and vibrating their flight muscles all at once, which “cooks the hornet to death.”
Meanwhile, a 4-year-old llama named Winter may hold the key to fighting the coronavirus in her blood. Behold nature in all of its beauty.
