That’s a fair take. They were poised to outcompete/cause the extinction of local pollinators, yeah? (Not my area of the expertise or my corner of the US, so I admittedly didn’t pay a ton of attention when they were in the news)
I’d still split hairs and argue that they were sensationalized, even if there was a valid reason for doing so. Giving any <x> the moniker “murder <x>” is news speak meant to trigger an emotional reaction in the audience. I was in florida at the time and even people that far away were scared of “murder hornets” hurting their kids
It wasnt an outcompete thing. They spread by taking over and feasting on other hives and killing everything in it… Hence the “murder” in the name. They were poised to take over local pollinators because North American bees never evolved to combat against this tactic like Asian bees had.
I do agree though that the name made them sound a lot scarier than they actually were to humans but left unchecked it wouldve been devastating.
That’s a fair take. They were poised to outcompete/cause the extinction of local pollinators, yeah? (Not my area of the expertise or my corner of the US, so I admittedly didn’t pay a ton of attention when they were in the news)
I’d still split hairs and argue that they were sensationalized, even if there was a valid reason for doing so. Giving any <x> the moniker “murder <x>” is news speak meant to trigger an emotional reaction in the audience. I was in florida at the time and even people that far away were scared of “murder hornets” hurting their kids
It wasnt an outcompete thing. They spread by taking over and feasting on other hives and killing everything in it… Hence the “murder” in the name. They were poised to take over local pollinators because North American bees never evolved to combat against this tactic like Asian bees had.
I do agree though that the name made them sound a lot scarier than they actually were to humans but left unchecked it wouldve been devastating.
Huh, TIL. Thanks for sharing your knowledge on the topic!