A tidbit often trotted out to allay the anxiety of those who decline to so much as dip their toes in the ocean for fear of shark attack is that far more people die from insect stings each year than from man-eating fish.
The difference being, of course, that shark attacks generate considerable media attention while insect stings, even when they cause death, rarely make more than local news.
Not so in China, where more than two dozen people were recently killed and hundreds more injured in a wave of attacks by giant hornets.
Victims described being chased for a thousand feet or more by the creatures and stung as many as 200 times, according to The Guardian.
The culprit appears to be the Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), which grows up to two inches long with a quarter-inch sting.
It is the world’s largest hornet and is known colloquially as the “yak-killer hornet.”
The Asian giant hornet injects a particularly potent venom that can damage tissue. Its sting can lead to anaphylactic shock and renal failure.
The Cotton Boll Conspiracy 