Man killed by wasps

wasp stealing a poor cicada -ncsu (photo credits)


According to coroner reports, a Minnesota man was stung early today by over 400 North American wasps , producing over 3,000 stings to the face, abdomen and throat, resulting in his premature death.

The coroner noted that although the man was clearly not allergic to the dangerous insects (lack of instant reaction), the tremendous amount of poison injected into him caused a slow and painful death.

When the poison from the wasp stinger is injected into the human bloodstream, the body reacts by clotting up around the poison , in an attempt to stop the poison from reaching the brain through the heart. This results in massive clotting, which usually will then be filtered out of the body , but as in this case, the sheer amount really made it impossible to prevent fatality.

Coroners have claimed that the man probably knocked a huge wasp nest , which is uncommon, from a tree branch he was trimming. The nest then landed near his feet , and perhaps in shock , he stood there, and was subsequently attacked mercilessly.

Proper protocol in such a situation would probably be to jump into a lake , but wasps move faster than humans , and in terms of speed there was no contest.

Local authorities are warning people not to topple large nests. Although wasps are generally less likely to live in colonies than honeybees,  chances are that toppling a single wasp nest can unleash several hundred individuals. Generally, this would be enough to kill you.

Using proper equipment , or calling an exterminator, is suggested over trying to remove the pests yourself. This case is unfortunate, but in reality, it's not that rare.