'30 stings will kill you': Giant foreign hornet found in BC

The insect does not belong in Canada.

A North Vancouver couple is warning the public after discovering what may be a Japanese giant hornet.

Valerie Walsh posted pictures of the four-centimeter-long insect on Twitter, calling on experts to identify it.

She told Global her boyfriend found the hornet on the waterfront Saturday and brought it home. She has been keeping it trapped under a wine glass on her counter.

Entomologists at the University of British Columbia told Walsh the insect “doesn’t belong here,” according to Global.

It may have made its way into Canada on a shipping container.

“We found out that if you get stung 10 times, you should go to the hospital, and 30 stings will kill you,” Walsh told Global.

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The Japanese giant hornet is native to Asia. People who are stung are urged to seek immediate medical attention.

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