Giant hornet terrorising China

Death is lurking in Shannxi Province, China in the form of a giant hornet. Swarms of these hornets are wreaking havoc especially in cities such as Ankang, Hanzhong and Shangluo.

The attacks that began last July is still continuing and over 42 people have lost their lives and some 1,600 others injured.

According to Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist at the Southwest Biological Institute in Tucson, Arizona the Asian giant hornet, known scientifically as Vespa mandarinia, carries a venom that destroys red blood cells, which can result in kidney failure and death.

But perhaps a bigger problem than the toxicity of the venom is allergy, Schmidt says. Some people are naturally more allergic to stinging insects than others; a sting can trigger a deadly anaphylactic reaction, which may involve airway closure or cardiac arrest.

One of the victims is Mu Conghui, who was attacked in Ankang City while looking after her millet crop.

"The hornets were horrifying," she told Xinhua, the Chinese state-run news agency. "They hit right at my head and covered my legs. All of a sudden, I was stung, and I couldn't move.

"Even now, my legs are covered with sting holes."

Two months, 13 dialysis treatments and 200 stitches later, Mu still remains hospitalised and unable to move her legs.

It's unclear exactly what factor or factors has led to the hornets' deadly season of human attacks.

Huang Rongyao, an insect expert with the Forestry Bureau of Ankang City, said that local vegetation growth has increased hornet habitat, and that two months of hot weather have made the insects much more active.

"The problem with this particular hornet is that it's big, sort of thumb-sized, and it packs a lot of venom," said entomologist Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis.

"And its nests get fairly large, including maybe several hundred individuals. They are aggressive, they are predatory, and they have been known to kill and eat an entire colony of honeybees," she said.

At 1.5 to 2 inches (four to five centimetres) long, the giant hornets are found across many parts of East and Southeast Asia and are especially well known in Japan. They're among the more dangerous venomous insects of their type, Kimsey said, though others, like Africanised bees and yellow jackets, can cause similar problems. The giant hornets are attracted to human sweat, alcohol and sweet flavours and smells. They are especially sensitive to when animals or people run. Every breeding season, the giant hornets produce an average of 1,000 to 2,000 offspring, Schmidt said.

In the meantime, staying well clear of the hornets is the best route to safety, experts advise, but that's often easier said than done.

Disturbing them or merely passing too close for the hornets' comfort can unleash a fierce retaliation. Some attacks seem especially unprovoked.

Last September a swarm attacked a school in southern China, injuring 30 people.

Not only humans, these giant hornets are a major threat to honeybees too. They are able to quickly decimate a hive of thousands of honeybees, leaving behind a trail of severed heads and limbs.

The hornets routinely fly miles from their nests and employ scouts to locate a bee colony and then mark it with a special pheromone that attracts their allies to attack, destroy, and occupy the hive.

With their huge size advantage, the hornets typically make short work of the bees, unless the victims are able to eliminate the advance scout before it can summon others.

They sometimes do so with an incredible defence - swarming the hornet in a ball.

Often, however, the bees and other insect victims become fodder for the growth of the hornet hive.

Adult workers chew their victims' flesh into a nutritious paste that feeds larvae, which in turn produces saliva that serves as a powerful "energy drink" to be consumed by adults who cannot digest solid protein.

Meanwhile, local authorities have deployed thousands of police officers and locals to destroy the hives. About 710 hives have been removed and at least seven million Yuan (about $1.1 million U.S.) sent to areas affected by hornets, according to a press release.

Now government officials have started fighting fire with fire - literally - by burning and gassing the thumb-sized creatures out of their hives.

Workers wearing protective clothing have moved in to eradicate the nightmare insects before any more people are injured.

Horrific pictures have emerged of wounds the size of bullet holes left in the arms of victims after being stung.

Despite these stringent measures the death threat remains to humans in this region.

No babysitter: Man takes child to burgle shop!

Paul McGraw of Dixon has been charged with felony, burglary and conspiracy, and a misdemeanour's charge of wilful cruelty of a child.

The first charge can be justified as Solano Count Sherkk's deputies found items from the shop he and his friend burgled, in his car. But for the second charge the question is raised how a burglar can wilfully be cruel to a child while on the act of robbery.

According to newspaper reports the owner of the shop in an unincorporated area of Dixon in Northern California detained one of the burglars and with the help of Sheriff's deputies searched the suspect's car and found items from the shop and a child.

When his friend Dean Forrest French called for this job 34-year-old Paul was unable to find a baby sitter to keep his infant till he came back.

Hence the only thing he could do was take the child with him to do the job of burgling the shop.

The court ordered that the baby be handed over to Child Protective Services. The deputies also arrested 37-year-old Dean Forrest French of Vacaville, who faces burglary and conspiracy charges.