Killer Bees And Wasps
With so many insects being the subject of horror movies in the late 1950s, director Roger Corman couldn’t leave stinging wasps and bees out of the picture. He created “Wasp Woman” in 1959, a movie about an aging woman who starts to take injections of wasp enzymes and royal jelly from a queen wasp in order to maintain her youth. You guessed it: the experiment backfires as she begins to turn into a giant wasp herself!
Contrary to popular belief, 1966’s “The Deadly Bees” was based on a novel by Robert Bloch (“Psycho”), not a reaction to the discovery of Africanized honey bees. But once the so-called “killer bees” began to take over Central and South America and head to the American border, a slew of filmmakers capitalized on their menace, producing films such as “The Swarm” and “The Bees.” Africanized honey bees swarm immediately if their hive is threatened. They are militantly territorial, will attack with zing and can kill large numbers of people if provoked.
Source: Emergency Pest Control
Asian countries have their own horrors dealing with giant stingers. Last year, it was reported that the Asian giant hornet in China had killed some 42 people. Known scientifically as Vespa mandarinia, the oversize bug carries a venom that destroys red blood cells and can lead to kidney failure and even death. Those who are allergic to the venom can end up experiencing airway closure and cardiac arrest.
Source: NPR
In addition to the deaths in China, the insect injured 1,675 people in Shaanxi province. More than 200 of them required hospital treatment.
