Just saw the poster below at the ferry pier.

Considering the source of this WARNING!, I'd like to double-check and hear more from forum members, if and where they have ever encountered a Giant Hornet on Lamma? True or just alarmist fear-mongering?

I've seen documentaries on these huge hornets and how dangerous they can be, with up to 3 inches wing span! They could be a real danger and not just for children. Having been stung by more than one swarm of angry bees when I was small, I'm kind of weary of hornets...

The link in the poster is outdated, here's the correct one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet

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Interesting, and the beast looks like a real mean SOB, but the tone of the poster is definitely alarmist.

According a Japanese "Infectious Agents Surveillance Report" on this site:

http://idsc.nih.go.jp/iasr/18/210/tpc210.html

there are indeed 30-40 deaths a year from stings from various species of bees and wasps, but most of these seem to be due to allergic reactions rather than the victim collapsing in a screaming puddle of goo as his flesh is dissolved by the venom. In fact, the report states that one of the factors in the increase in deaths is the decline in the population of V. mandarinia, which seeks and destroys other species of wasps and hornets implicated in the deaths.

Has anyone seen these orange headed monsters? I haven't, and I doubt whether they would even venture out in this weather. Dog shit on the footpaths would currently seem to be a more clear and present danger.

This WARNING! seems to be spreading! They just mentioned it on the radio, being informed by somebody local, but the moderator questioned its truth and asked if it's just a wind-up.
This would be extremely bad for tourism and give Lamma a bad name for a long time. "Visit Lamma and die from a hornet sting!"

Has anybody seen a real Giant Hornet on Lamma? Where? When?
There are other quite harmless, regular, non-aggressive hornets around, rarely, but the Giant Hornets are really huge, at least one inch long.

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The picture shown below is already shown in Wasps forum.

The wasp is feeding off a banana which without having one in
front of me I think are about 1.5" across.
Stretched out this chap would probably reach about that length.
So whilst some of the body pattern may not be the same,
could this be yr demon. It is certainly large enough.
Or could be a juvenile.

FYI, these chaps are known for attacking dragonflies in mid-air,
bringing them to ground, stinging them to death, before
disappearing with the dead dragonfly, presumably to devour them.
Have seen this happen many times.

Discovery Channel had a full length documentary several months
ago on the killer wasps & it showed how about 30 of them could
wipe out a hive of about 20,000 honey bees (not the Japanese variety)
in less than half an hour (or therabouts) just to get at the larvae.

So is it scaremongering? Think not.
And if they are the ones shown below. They are all over Lamma, and
have been for years.

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I was attacked by a swarm of these at the weekend while attempting to steal mayonnaise from their nest. I'd like to warn everyone to stay well away from them.

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If the sting on a Giant Hornet is 6mm long, where’s the sting on the one pictured? Are they retractable? The sting on the one pictured in the poster looks like it’s under the abdomen.

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They operate like this. Aparently Clive has one stuck in his bottom which may or may not be affecting his speech.

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They just had Clive himself on Radio 3 talking about this. He seems serious.

I had a look at the Wikipedia page on the poster. Seems in Japan "hornet juice" is used as a pick me up, on the wacky theory that hornets can fly for 20 miles so drinking their stomach extract will let you do so too, and help you lose weight too (perhaps it'll dissolve your flesh?). A little more research found no evidence of this other than one Japanese marathon runner who is endlessly quoted as using it. Also more digging found that the drink is actually synthetic and not made from hornets all. So I added some sceptical remarks to the wiki.

Let's just hope and pray that these hornets don't open any fast food outlets on the island.

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My real name isn't Harry.
Slurp my bean juice.

Clive was just giving more details on this live on the radio. He found some big wasps in his garden, took a picture and had it identfied positively by an overseas entymologist.

As Guy said, they might have been around for a long time, like fire ants. Have they ever stung anybody so far, if you leave them alone? Just one more critter to be careful of when hiking, not a huge deal, I think (except if you're allergic to bee stings).

I saw that documentary as well and it was one of the most impressive ones I've ever seen: close-up, inside-the-hive shots of just a few dozen of these Giant Hornets slaughtering an entire bee hive, tens of thousands of bees within 3 hours, insect warfare at its ugliest...

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...like the Island Bar
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This is the same Clive who alerted us to the 'Beast of Yung Shue Wan' a few years ago. The photo looked remarkably like a large tomcat.

And it turned out be Andy Windebank on his way home from Y2K.

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Is this the same Clive who tries to argue that 'Homo Sapiens did not originate in Africa but Tibet' on the home page of his Lamma.net website?

'Beast of Yung Shue Wan'? Sounds most intriguing? Any photo left?

I thought we had a 'Retired Beast' living here already? Is this the same Beast, active years ago and retired nowadays?

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LAWC have lots of photos of cats.

Somebody ought to import a few of these giant wasps to the southern parts of the western hemisphere. Perhaps they can be convinced to wipe out the huge African killer bee colonies that are currently terrorizing folks there. So far Canada has proven too cold for them to survive.

Which gives me an idea ... if Lamma becomes overrun by these beasties you could always retreat to the ferries, where the air conditioning would probably kill them on contact.

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Is it safe to come out of the Island Bar yet?

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Um, does this mean no self-respecting giant hornet would be caught inside the Island Bar?

Curious foreign minds want to know

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I've been hiding in the closet, er I mean under the table for nearly two years now. Can somebody PLEASE tell me, have the flesh-eating giant hornets gone yet?

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No still here, stay hidden