As Britain struggles with the emerging corona virus, it faces a possible invasion of Asian wasps that can lead to death in one bite.
This hornet has a devastating effect on already dwindling honeybees in Britain. Experts say the cost of fighting it is 7.6 million pounds a year.
Asian wasps, huge insects, native to Southeast Asia, feed on small creatures, especially bees, and only one bite of them is enough to kill a person who is allergic to his poison.
These wasps accidentally reached France from China in 2004, and have spread rapidly throughout Europe since then. Experts estimate that it colonized most of France at a rate of 60 to 80 km per year.
It also invaded many other countries, including Spain in 2010, Portugal and Belgium in 2011, Italy in 2012, Germany in 2014 and Britain in 2016.
French scientists evaluated the estimated cost of the wasps' invasion of Europe, analyzed the negative impact on ecosystems and the global decline in pollination and honey production. Attempts to control the invasion focus on destroying wasps' nests and their hunt.
But researchers say that these methods are not enough to eradicate these wasps, as they divided the required procedures into three main categories: preventing the invasion, fighting it, and the resulting damage, according to the newspaper "Daily Star".
The cost of its resistance annually in France is 10.5 million pounds, Italy 8 million pounds, and Britain 7.6 million pounds.
In Japan and South Korea, the cost of its annual resistance is estimated at 17.2 million pounds and 10.5 million pounds, respectively, while in the United States it is 23.8 million pounds.
Professor Frank Courchamp said: "Certain further measures must be taken to deal with harmful invasive species, one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and the functioning of the ecosystem."
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