Killer hornets: the swarm we do have cause to fear
YOU might have read of a “swarm” building on the other side of the Channel, one that supposedly threatens our very way of life.
But while our politicians attempt to outdo each other in the most inflammatory terms they can think of to describe the desperate wave of humanity deposited in the Calais “jungle”, there is another potential invasion that has passed them by.
Hornets. Not any old buzzer, mind, but Vespa velutina nigrithorax – that’s bee-killing Asian hornets to the rest of us. And yes, we should be very afraid.
These blighters possess a sting made up of eight toxic chemicals that devastate bee populations and cause an allergic shock in humans.
So far, the insects have spread through France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium from their native habitat around Shanghai.
Six people have already died after being stung. One victim was a 54-yearold man who disturbed a nest in the Loire Valley. Those nests, by the way, can contain up to 4,000 hornets.
While there have so far been no sightings of the bee-killing Asian hornet in Britain, experts fear it may be only a matter of time – possibly arriving via an unsuspecting caravan, or accidentally imported in pot plants, cut flowers, fruit and timber. Hot summers are ideal for the insect, so be grateful for the recent rain.
But help may now be at hand, in the form of the carnivorous Saracennia pitcher plant, whose leaves have been found to be expert at trapping the hornets drawn to its nectar. The plant – found in a botanical garden in Nantes – has adapted to eat Asian hornets, while leaving European hornets, bees and wasps alone.
I read of this in another week of tragic human news and wondered what remarkable ways nature adapts to right its wrongs – and what a mess the rest of us make.