Just when people thought 2020 couldn't get any worse, fears of a "murder hornet" invasion have surfaced - prompting social media users to share comical crisis memes.
The Asian Giant Hornets have found their way into the USm with experts warning of their painful - even deadly - sting.
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They hornets are large insects measuring almost 2inches long, which can kill someone allergic to their venom with just one sting.
As people adapt to stay-at-home living during the pandemic, many are sharing hilarious memes.
"I can't wait until this whole COVID situation is over so we can move on," one meme states, referencing The Office.
Another one reads: "Government: Everyone stay home. America: NO!!!! Government: Release the murder hornets!"
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Twitter user @DrGrayfang shared a comical "would you rather survey."
According to the tweet, 78% of people would rather be stung by a "murder hornet" than listen to Cardi B.
Joking about what's next after murder hornets, Twitter user @TheTweetOfGod shared a list.
The tweet listed burglary wasps, embezzlement beetles and larceny lice.
Other threats to society were listed as: tax evasion termites, cybercrime crickets, arson fireflies, incest insects, fleeing the scene of crime fleas, and regular mosquitoes.
Another reads: "April: 'At least it can't get any worse'" and is followed by a photo representing the month of May and showing a man next to a "giant murder hornets" sign.
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"You know the saying, April diseases bring May killer beeses," another social media user tweeted.
Memes relating the 2020 to the American fantasy adventure film Jumanji have circulated the internet, joking that someone is playing the fictional game.
One tweet read: "US '2020 has been a weird game of jumanji but I think its over..' News: #MurderHornets from in U.S. for first time.'"
It then shows a photo of a woman, popularly used in other memes, with the word "What?" across her forehead.
A tweet responding to a NY Times article shows a boomerang video of the infamous chef Salt Bae sprinkling salt.
"God sprinkling some murder hornets on 2020," the tweet read.
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Scientists at the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WDSA) are scrambling to wipe out the frightening insects from nesting and breeding in Canada and Washington.
The hornets can sting multiple times and deliver seven times the amount of venom as a honey bee - the equivalent to that of a venomous snack.
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Two of the killer hornets were first spotted in the US in Blaine, Washington, in December 2019 - but it is unknown how or where exactly the arrived in America, researchers at the university explained.
Although there have only been few sightings of the murder hornets, scientists fear they could multiply to a point where they hurt the ecology.
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