A video being shared across social media shows the bees attacking the hornet after it enters their colony, and roasting it to death.
Murder hornets can grow up to 2 inches in length, experts say, which is over two times the size of the hornet species usually found in North America. The hornets also have a very powerful stinger filled with deadly venom, which causes an average of 30 to 50 deaths each year in Japan, according to National Geographic.
Despite the hornet's large size, deadly stinger and terrifying name, some other insects, like the honeybees in the video, have developed an"ambush defense," to combat the hornets, according to Katy Prudic, an associate professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona.
"Japanese honeybees have evolved an ambush defense against these hornets. When a hornet scout finds a honeybee hive, the honeybees lure her in, then collectively pounce on the hornet, beating their wings as much as they can," Prudic said during a recent conversation published by the University of Arizona News."This flurry attack raises the temperature around the hornet, eventually killing her and a few of the honeybees closest to her.
The video comes as the planet's largest hornets were sighted in the U.S. for the first time ever. According to the Washington Department of Agriculture, there have been four sightings of the hornets in North America, with two in Blaine, Washington and two others in British Columbia, Canada.published a report about the hornet's unusual migration to the U.S., sparking concern among Americans.
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