Friday, December 20

Officials have confirmed that Asia's dangerous murder hornets have been eradicated from the United States, a rare win in the battle against invasive species.

The Asian giant hornet is the world's largest hornet, reaching up to 2 inches in length, and is also the world's most deadly. The insect can eliminate a honey bee nest in a matter of hours, giving them their nickname, the "murder hornet." Murder hornet stings are extremely painful due to the fact that they contain a potent neurotoxin known as mandaratoxin, and have been compared to being stabbed by a hot metal pin. In addition, the hornets can sting multiple times when aggravated, and their stingers are long enough to sting a person through a normal beekeeper suit.

The insects are found across East Asia, including India, the Indochinese Peninsula, China, and Korea, and can be very deadly. Murder hornets came under the international spotlight after they killed 42 people and injured an additional 1,675 in China in 2013 alone. However, five years ago, murder hornets were spotted in the US state of Washington, and they were also found in Canada's nearby province of British Columbia. They are thought to have arrived via shipping containers or plants being transported across the Pacific, and quickly became a major concern.

Using traps and tracking devices on the hornets, officials were able to discover and destroy four nests in 2020 and 2021, and no sightings of murder hornets have been reported since 2021 in both Washington and British Columbia. Then, this week, officials finally pronounced the hornets eradicated, which is a huge win in the everlasting battle against invasive species.

Invasive species now cover the world, as animals can stowaway in anything that travels a long distance. Once they arrive at their new destination, many of these species thrive in their new habitat, often at the expense of the natural ecosystem. Many of the world's worst invasive species are plants and insects, as they are hard to catch and spread quickly. Insects like the spotted lanternfly and khapra beetle can have devastating impacts on their environment and can incur millions of dollars in damages when it comes to agriculture, while plants like kudzu can quickly overrun pristine forests and choke the ecosystem. Unfortunately, due to the fact that they spread rapidly, most efforts to fight invasive species are in vain, making the damage irreversible.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): India has the longest written constitution in the world, with 146,385 words in the English version. It is made up of 448 articles in 22 parts and 12 schedules, and is still growing as it is amended from time to time.

Quote of the Day: Old friends are like gold. New friends are like diamonds. If you get a diamond, don’t forget the gold, because to hold a diamond in a ring, you always need a base of gold. (Unknown)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Requite (verb, pronounced rih-KWYTE)- To requite is to give or do something in return for something that another person has given or done, or for a benefit or service that has been provided.

In a Sentence: Sam was worried that the feelings she’d expressed on her date were not requited, but was relieved and overjoyed to learn that they were.