A doctor is trying to get the name of the Asian giant hornet changed because he believes it is causing xenophobia.
Dr Chris Looney is an entomologist with the Washington Department of Agriculture, and says his concerns have grown as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
These hornets can grow up to two inches (5.8cm) and have a venom that is about seven times more powerful than a bee's.
The outbreak, he says, has caused a rise in anti-Asian sentiment and links being made to 'murder hornets' could be adding fuel to the fire.
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Instead, he has proposed calling them simply 'giant hornets' and is set to submit the name to the Entomological society of America.
Speaking to Crosscut, Dr Looney said: "We have people that either get turned off by [these names] or use them as a reason to be xenophobia."
The Entomological Society of America recently decided that the 'gypsy' moth would now be known as the 'spongy' moth.
The process sets precedents for considering the wider impact names of insects can have.
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Speaking about the change, Dr Akito Kawahara, an associate professor at the University of Florida and curator of butterflies and moths at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said it's a positive move.
"It made me realise that, yes, we can make these changes," he said. "That’s what needs to happen, and with the spongy moth situation happening in the way it did… I think something like that is good to see.
"I would have hoped that this would have happened earlier, and I wish the media didn’t pick up the name ‘murder hornet’ at the very beginning of this whole thing, because I think it’s created a lot of problems, and it’s really the environment that’s taking the toll.
"We need to take the right steps at the very beginning, when something like that happens, to use the appropriate name."
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Last year, the society banned names of insects that include references to ethnicities, races or groups of people.
The society's president, Dr Jessica Ware, said: "The use of an ethnic slur was reason enough, but the fact that Lymantriadispar is an insect pest that is the target of eradication makes it worse when considering that the people that word refers to have also been the targets of discrimination and genocide.
"We heard from a number of Romani people and scholars who talked about the dehumanizing effects the old common name had on them."
Back in 2020, incredible footage was released that showed a swarm of Japanese bees killing a 'murder hornet' that entered their hive attempting to eat them.
The clip shows hundreds of bees climbing over and covering the hornet so that it overheats due to their vibrations and is eventually 'roasted alive'.
Topics: Animals
Dominic Smithers