CLOSED: Should we kill Giant Hornets since they kill bees & BFs?

cedar18 Lula, GA(Zone 7b) Aug 18, 2008

I just saw a giant hornet, Vespa crabro germana, catch and kill a bee after attacking a swallowtail butterfly (which got away). "What's that bug" site says "They are found in the east. It is an introduced species." These hornets are quite aggressive, threatening in the way the charge at people too. So since it is a non-native killing native insects, should we be dispatching them to bug heaven?

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claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Aug 18, 2008

Interesting question...I had to work around them earlier this summer, they didn't bother me at all. Kind of scary on a ladder. Their nest had to be removed in the course of a house remodel. I wasn't there for the fun part, but no one was hurt.

Here's a pic. Their nest is the three squarish pieces on the left.

I've spent a few hours chasing them around a porch light trying to get a decent picture, and came to realize that they weren't going to sting. Carpenter bees will fly in your face but the males don't have a stinger, if I remember right. Definitely not a comfortable situation but they don't seem too ornery to me. Nothing like yellow-jackets!

I don't know if they'll be a problem for our native insects but they don't seem aggressive to me at all.

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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Aug 18, 2008

I have found this species to be relatively non-aggressive, especially when compared to yellowjackets and bald-faced hornets; I have never been stung by them, even when working within a few feet of a colony. See http://www.muenster.org/hornissenschutz/hornets.htm for more detailed information on this species.

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eyesoftexas Toadsuck, TX(Zone 7a) Aug 18, 2008

I'd be sending them into the next dimension, for sure!

"eyes"

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