Hornet Attacks Kill Dozens In China

Hornet Attacks Kill Dozens In China

Northwestern China has been struck by one of the most unusual phenomenon’s in the past years. A number of deadly hornet attacks have killed 42 people and severely injured a whopping 1,600 people as of this Thursday.

The increase in attack frequency has started in late July and has concentrated in three cities in the Shaanxi province. Ankang, Hanzhong and Shangluo are the cities that have literally been under siege by the Asian giant hornet.

Reports say that the giant Asian hornets which are said to be as big as 2 inches have been attacking people with a higher than usual frequency. The attacks have taken place especially between the months of September and October as they usually migrate and breed during the autumn months.

Insect control experts in the above mentioned cities said that some of the reasons behind the attacks are uncontrolled vegetation growth and warmer than usual temperatures. Other experts say that a decrease in the hornet’s natural enemies like spiders and birds is the root cause of the increased number of attacks.

In the meanwhile, firefighters and police officers have been destroying hornet’s nests while extra medics have been transferred to the most affected cities to deal with the increased number of patients.

Posted by James Fried on Friday October 04 2013, 5:45 AM EST. Ref: LA Times. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0