- Oh my gosh, look at this.
It's a giant hornet, there's no question about that.
But is this the invasive murder hornet that everybody's
been talking about?
You know where I am right now?
West Virginia.
This is crazy.
Whoa.
(jungle music)
All right, guys, right now we are on location
in West Virginia, and this big, glorious bush behind me
is known as a lilac.
It's not currently in bloom, but its bark and its sap
are incredibly valuable to a number of different
wasp species, including hornets.
And we have seen a very large hornet this morning.
Is it possible that there are giant hornets
in West Virginia?
I'm gonna catch one and we're gonna find out.
So Mario, what is it that we know about hornets?
- Well, we know that they're actually a type of wasp.
In fact, all hornets are wasps,
but not all wasps are hornets.
- Ooh, there's one.
There's one flyin' around up there.
Impossible to see on this small camera,
but boy are they big.
What they're doing right now is actually stripping the bark
so that they can take it, chew it up, and build the walls
of their paper nests.
Oh there's one, there's one, there's one.
Man, they are all over these lilac bushes.
They're higher up though.
Oh man, here's one right here out in the sun on this branch.
See it right here?
Oh, I missed it.
Now they're angry.
Hold on, don't move. (buzzes)
Oh, that really made 'em angry.
Comin' right at ya, look out.
There's one, there's one, here, take this, take this.
Movin' up through the branches right now.
(dramatic music)
I got it, I got it, I got it, got it, I got it, I got it!
Yes!
Oh, I thought I missed it, I've got it.
Check that out.
Wow, that's a big hornet.
Yes!
Here, let me give you this.
Okay, we have got
what may be West Virginia's giant hornet,
but is it an invader?
Okay, let me see if I can get it
inside the bug capsule here.
Yes, look at that beast.
That is a very, very intimidating insect right there.
All right, let's get this bug up into a controlled setting,
properly identify and determine
is this an invasive murder hornet here in West Virginia?
Here we are again.
Coyote Peterson, sitting at a table, with an EpiPen,
a pair of entomology forceps, and a stinging insect
inside of a container.
It's a big bug, there's no question about it.
It's a hornet, but the question is,
is that an invasive murder hornet?
Now in 2020, the giant hornet was supposedly invading
the United States.
I've been very vocal in saying that this is
not likely to happen.
And recently we also showed you another large flying,
stinging insect here in the United States,
the cicada killer.
That species is a sand wasp and they're famous
for killing cicadas, not humans.
This right here is not a cicada killer.
In fact, it is a true hornet, a very large hornet.
There are a number of different hornet species
here in the United States, and like Mario said earlier,
all hornets are technically wasps,
but not all wasps are hornets.
Now if you were to go out into your back yard and see
one of these things flying around, it sounds like
an Apache helicopter, and I guarantee you're probably gonna
be thinking to yourself, oh my gosh, I saw the news stories,
or I saw a Brave Wilderness that this is what
a murder hornet is.
It's gotta be a murder hornet.
Guys, it's not a murder hornet.
It is a big hornet, in fact, the largest hornet
in the United States known as the European Hornet.
Now what's unique about this hornet species specifically
is that it's one of the species that builds
its paper nest above ground.
Oftentimes true hornets build their nests underground,
but this one will collect the sticky sap
from different trees, rip off pieces of bark, chew it up
in its mandibles, and take it back to its paper nest
to continue building that structure.
Now if you come across one of these nests,
you do not want to try and destroy it.
Don't spray it with spray.
Don't try to light it on fire, because if these insects
recognize that their home is being disturbed,
they will attack and they will attack with force.
So what I wanna do now is get this insect out
of the plastic container and take a look at some
of its more unique features.
To do that, I'm gonna have to get it in the net
and pick it up with the forceps.
I'm gonna give it a little space on the back side there.
Perfect.
Now it's down into the lower section and I can do this,
which will cause it to walk up and into the net.
Go up, go up, there we go.
Plastic container comes down, boom, insect is secure.
Look at that, worked like a charm.
Get these forceps.
Gonna be real careful to get the bug right on its thorax
so that I don't injure its wings.
That's a good hold right there.
That is the European Hornet.
Perfect hold, right on the thorax and boy you can see
that stinger goin'.
Definitely not an insect that you would want to be stung by.
Well, let's take a look at some of the coolest
anatomical features of this hornet.
It has a very robust body structure and its exoskeleton
is incredibly strong, so I'm not causing any injury
to the bug as I hold it inside of these entomology forceps.
The head is massive, big eyes.
These creatures have great eyesight,
especially during the day.
You'll notice those mandibles up front
are very intimidating, capable of grasping and holding onto
the prey items that they bring back to their brood of larva.
As you look at the legs, they almost appear as if they
have grappling hooks on the ends of them.
That allows them to pick up things like grasshoppers
and cicadas to carry them back to their nest.
Also allows them to easily grip onto the branches as they're
crawling around in trees, eating up sap, and stripping bark.
Look at that abdomen.
If you look really closely, can see it's covered in a bunch
of fine little hairs.
And look at the way that it pulses.
That's pretty intimidating.
That black and yellow coloration basically is a warning
that I am venomous.
You don't wanna get stung by me.
This is actually a female.
Remember, it's only the females that have stingers.
That is a modified ovipositor used for laying eggs.
Now the sting of a hornet like this is definitely
going to be painful.
It ranks as a two on the insect sting pain index.
And it would be a multitude of stings that you would
really need to worry about.
A single sting is not likely to do you much damage,
but this is not necessarily an insect you need
to be afraid of.
Remember, they are not going to attack you and sting
unless you intentionally disturb a nest.
The nests are very obvious.
They're very big, light gray in coloration,
looks like a big paper mache art structure.
So if you leave the nest be, your chances of interacting
negatively with one of these hornets,
or a bunch of these hornets, is very unlikely.
Admire from a safe distance and it's actually
a pretty cool sight.
All right, I know you guys are all excited
and you're thinking all right, Coyote's got the insect
in the entomology forceps.
He's gonna stretch his arm out on the table,
place it down on his forearm, and induce a sting.
I told you guys, after the cicada killer,
I was done with stings.
I came out of retirement for one and only,
that was the cicada killer.
The European Hornet, I am not going to be stung by.
So I'm sorry to disappoint all of you that clicked
on this video to see me stung by this hornet.
The purpose in catching it was to show you just how big
and how cool it was and to also prove that this is not
an invasive giant hornet.
This is not the murder hornet that you guys
have been reading about in the media.
You can't believe the hype.
In fact, humans have been alongside stinging insects
since the dawn of mankind.
These creatures do not want to sting us unless we try
to interact with them or destroy their homes.
Now the last thing I'm gonna do to prove that this insect
does not want to sting me is to actually place it
into the palm of my hand and let it fly off back
into the ecosystem.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see you on the next location.
It often seems as if there are countless stinging
insect species on the planet, and I know the Coyote pack
would love another run at me finding something that packs
a more painful punch than the executioner wasp.
Nothing is impossible, but for now, as promised at the end
of our recent cicada killer episode,
I will remain in sting retirement.
But as you may have noticed, I haven't taken beastly bites
off the table for consideration.
Stay tuned.
Things are about to get crazy.
(growls)
Hey Coyote pack, if you missed my last sting,
make sure to go back and watch Stung by a Cicada Killer.
And if you want to learn more about my famous bites
and stings, check out two of our best-selling books:
The King of Sting and our newly released The Beast of Bites.
To pick up your copies, just click on the link
in the video description below.
And don't forget, subscribe and join memberships
so you don't miss a moment of the action
on our next wild adventure.
(gentle music)