• Gust@piefed.socialEnglish
      10·
      10 days ago

      I’d guess its a reference to the Asian giant hornet, or “murder hornets” as they were sensationalized a few years ago

      https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/whats-a-murder-hornet

      “Murder hornets usually live in Japan, South Korea, China, and other East Asian countries. Scientists first confirmed their presence in the U.S. near Blaine, WA, in December 2019. Sightings continued there at least through 2021 and stopped in 2022.”

      • Maven (famous)@piefed.zipEnglish
        8·
        10 days ago

        Idk if I would say “sensationalized”. They were a big issue and there was a very large coordinated effort to get rid of them that was incredibly successful.

        Its similar to y2k in the sense that it was a big issue but it was dealt with so well that everything people were worried about was avoided entirely.

        • Gust@piefed.socialEnglish
          1·
          10 days ago

          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

          • Maven (famous)@piefed.zipEnglish
            6·
            10 days ago

            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.