If we evaluate the danger of an insect by the degree of toxicity of its poison and the damage it causes to the human body, then the hornets can indeed rightfully occupy one of the leading positions. The hornet is dangerous for humans because its poison can affect not only the tissues at the stinging site, but also the entire body as a whole.
Particularly serious damage to human health is caused by large tropical species of these insects: the poison of these hornets may well lead to human death. However, death can also occur when smaller European hornets bite: if a person with high sensitivity to insect poisons was attacked, then without professional medical care his life could be in grave danger.
However, despite such cases, in fact, the hornets are peaceful than many of their relatives: bees, collective wasps and some ants.Even with a strong poison in their arsenal, these insects are not the most dangerous because they use it extremely rarely and only in exceptional situations.
If a person, in the "opinion" of the hornet, attacks him or threatens the nest, then the insect will certainly be angry and aggressive. In this case, the answer to the question “Is the hornet dangerous for humans?” Will be obvious.
It is interesting
As scientific studies show, even if a person is trying to purposefully catch a hornet, an insect prefers to flee rather than attack an offender. Hornets attack only with obvious aggression in their direction: if they sit on them, grab their hands or destroy the nest.
The effect of poison hornets on the human body
As mentioned above, the danger of a hornet for humans is primarily due to the presence of a powerful poison in an insect. Due to the special complex composition of the hornet venom has a multifaceted damaging effect on various tissues and organs.
Let's look at how the insect bite acts on humans.
- The very first there is a sharp throbbing pain.For example, those who sting giant Asian hornets compare the bite with a hot nail driven into the body. The pain from the poison of the European hornet is, of course, less impressive, but on the whole is comparable to the sensations after a bee sting.
- The stinging place swells up, swelling and inflammation appear.
- Poison causes the destruction of cells and walls of blood vessels. As a consequence, local hemorrhages appear, and in severe cases - extensive hematomas, suppurations and general poisoning of the body.
- In addition, the toxin stimulates headaches, palpitations, dizziness, fever.
However, in most cases, the effects of a single hornet bite are limited to the appearance of a slight swelling and swelling at the site of injury. If hornets are attacked by a group, their bites lead to extensive inflammation, hemorrhage, and even necrotic tissue damage. There are numerous cases where, because of the delay in going to the hospital for injured people, they had to amputate their fingers.
The composition of the poison of hornets includes substances characteristic of the poison of snakes and causing the disintegration of cells.As a result, a multitude of cellular components that are at the molecular level "rubbish" that requires immediate utilization from the point of view of the organism, end up in the tissue. A complex microbiological process occurs, resulting in the appearance of a tumor and edema.
Among other things, the poison contains acetylcholine - a compound that causes the activation of nerve endings. Simply put, the insect toxin, when it gets under the skin, acts primarily on the human nervous system, activating a burning pain even before the tissue damage is pronounced.
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“The hornet bit me once, even when I lived in India. My father had a small farm in the suburbs of Mumbai, and there I was bitten by the usual medium-sized hornet. It was amazingly painful, it was a feeling that they shot a shot in the leg. The pain lasted for several days, and mom pricked painkiller for me. The leg over the bite around the knee was swollen and not bent, but in general I felt fine and even lame walked down the street. ”
Naimasar, Orlando
But all these effects, even when accompanied by general intoxication of the body, cannot lead to death. A truly hornet is dangerous for humans in the case of even if not strong, but still existing sensitivity to the poisons of insects. The poison of the hornet is extremely allergenic, and if a person’s immune system is unable to cope with it, then the probability of death is alarmingly high.
Allergy and anaphylactic shock
Can a hornet kill a man? Let even one, and not tropical, but the most usual, European? Let's find out.
Not only does the hornet venom itself contain histamine, the catalyst for all the instantaneous allergic reactions, but also some of the substances that make up the toxin of this insect contribute to the release of its own histamine from the affected tissues of the body.
It is not surprising that after the hornet bite almost immediately and all victims develop an allergic reaction. The degree of its manifestation depends solely on the individual sensitivity of people: in some, the hornet bite causes only local inflammation, in others - a rapidly spreading immune response with fever and difficulty in breathing, in others - anaphylactic shock and death.
Today, thanks to the development of medicine and pharmacology, people who know about the features of their immune system have the opportunity to be vaccinated with special vaccines that increase resistance to the venom of insects in general and of hornets - in particular.Such vaccinations will not make the bites themselves painless, but will ensure the weakening of the allergic reaction and, as a result, protect against anaphylactic shock and possible death from it.
It is worth noting that the attack of several hornets at the same time in any case will be a serious danger to absolutely everyone: in this case neither the relatively good tolerance of the poison, nor the vaccine will save the allergic reaction.
How do hornets attack
The hornet is most dangerous near its nest - protecting it, the insect can attack even without visible provocations from the person. And if someone comes to mind to try to remove the nest, drown it in a bucket or to smoke people, then the attack is guaranteed.
When attacking, this large wasp emits special aromatic substances into the air, which are a signal to other individuals. As a rule, after such a "call", all the inhabitants of the nest are distracted from their affairs and begin to attack - not only the offender, but in general anyone who is near. Such situations are the most dangerous and most often lead to serious biting and even death of a person.
In general, getting the hornet out of itself and provoking aggression is not an easy task, and you have to try hard to make the insect angry, so to speak.
So, the hornet, engaged in hunting or collecting building material for the nest, is very indifferent to man.
If the insect feels that it is being pursued, then first of all it will try to escape; if you try to catch him, he will also choose the escape option. Take up a defensive position and defend the hornet will only be when it will be in the hands of a person, under his leg or other part of the body.
Thus, the aggressiveness of the hornet is a very ambiguous phenomenon. Like every human being, each insect taken separately is aggressive in its individual degree: some are very calm and bite only when there is a pronounced danger, while others can provoke an attack even in a seemingly non-aggressive way of looking at a person.
It is interesting
The length of the sting of the European hornet is 3 mm, while the huge Asian hornet has twice as much - more than 6 mm.
A characteristic and very entertaining feature of these insects is that the smaller the size of the individual, the more aggressive it is.So, more often than others, and in large quantities, sting a person in medium-sized Japanese Hornetswhile their huge “brothers” are distinguished by an incredible peacefulness.
The European hornets inhabiting our country are also very calm and attack much less frequently than wasps or even bees. In most cases, hornets attack beekeepers and gardeners who are trying to destroy their nests or set up special traps for wasps and hornets in the immediate vicinity of insect dwellings.
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“The only negative memory of this summer is the attack of hornets on me and my husband. We have a plot near the landing, and from there the hornets fly to the blackberry. Once before, everything passed without conflict, but this time many hornets attacked us at once. This is terrible, of course. He as vsandalit, so in the eyes of the pain darkens. I was bitten by four hornets, nine husbands. Well, we managed to quickly run into the shower and turn on the water. It scared them. I immediately started to bang in my head, my legs gave way, my heart ached. The husband seemed to be feeling better, but his whole face was so smashed that he could not open his eyes. So sat half a day before the shower. I can not get up, Sasha - go.Then we reached the summer kitchen, were stuffed with pills, decided not to call an ambulance. I have had bumps from bites in a week, at Sasha - in ten days. ”
Veronica, Uman
On the video - about the attack of hornets on a man:
When hornets attack people and how it can be dangerous
Sad statistics: hornets really kill
The overwhelming majority of information about the attacks of the Hornets is not a folk fiction, but a fact confirmed by official sources.
For example, in Japan, for example, hornets are practically the most dangerous representatives of the local fauna - annually they kill about 40 people here. More people in this country do not die from any land animal. Sometimes even horrible killers of predatory sharks, if, of course, it is appropriate to use this expression in such a serious situation, give odds.
Japan and China are not far behind the statistics: in 2012, more than 1,600 people were attacked by giant Asian hornets in Hainan Province, 42 of whom died.
Every year, several hundred people are treated because of bites from hornets and to US hospitals. It should be noted that initially, before the industrial development of America, the hornets did not meet on the territory of this country - here they are introduced, i.e.introduced by man, a species that gradually captures more and more land.
But various eyewitness accounts of cruel hornets, transmitted from mouth to mouth and gradually overgrown with additional “facts”, turn out to be an invention - often they take ordinary wasps as hornets.
If the hornet, whatever type it is, is still stung, first of all it is necessary to lubricate the bite with alcohol or any balm such as “Rescuer”, “Menovazin” or “Fenistil”. At the slightest suspicion of the development of an allergic reaction, i.e. with fever, dizziness and other symptoms mentioned above, it is necessary to take antipyretic and analgesic drugs and immediately go to the hospital.
Remember: any signs of allergy may indicate a risk of anaphylactic shock. Reinsure, do not hope for Russian, perhaps - your health is in your hands!
Useful video about the danger of hornets and their control
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I really enjoyed this video.
Very informative, thank you.
To go nuts.
I learned a lot, thanks a lot.
I was stung once, and that in childhood. Now I fish and see them repeatedly, but they do not attack.