Asian giant hornets are the largest species of hornet in the world. They grow to sizes of 1.5 inches to more than 2 inches, which is about the length of two quarters laying side-by-side. For comparison, the much more common European hornet is about half the size, and yellowjacket wasps are around 0.5 inches to 0.75 inches.
Asian giant hornets feed themselves and their young by killing and eating other insects and regurgitating them back to their young. When Asian giant hornets find a honey bee nest, they can tear apart tens of thousands of them in mere hours with a team of just a few dozen, completely taking out a colony without a problem. This can be devastating to beekeepers and honey producers. To make matters worse, the honeybee population has been declining for years in the U.S. due to habitat loss, disease, and pesticides.