# Murder hornets in suburban Chicago?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 19, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714 "2020-07-19T01:22:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714/1 "2020-07-19T01:22:51Z")
Spending most of my life a few miles from O’Hare Field I’m rarely surprised what new species or illness shows up, and I was outside with my family when I looked down and saw something I’ve seen on local news. Calling a daughter’s attention to it I asked if it was a MURDER HORNET!!! as it’s pronounced on TV.
“Yeah, they’re starting to appear.”
I probably should tell someone.
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2020, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714/2 "2020-07-19T02:20:33Z")
Well, at least they’re not Green Hornets that run into gas trucks and explode.
(Extremely sick joke that only Chicago history nerds will get.)
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714/3 "2020-07-19T03:05:46Z")
Ay, Yi Yi.!!
That’s scary.
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### Author:  [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714/4 "2020-07-19T03:09:14Z")
Well murder hornets might run into some stiff competition in Chicago.
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714/5 "2020-07-19T03:32:51Z")
[University of Illinois extension service](https://extension.illinois.edu/news-releases/are-murder-hornets-here-illinois-not-likely) thinks it’s very unlikely that the giant hornet will make it to Illinois. Perhaps you saw a European hornet or cicada-killer wasp.
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### Author:  [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714/6 "2020-07-19T05:05:24Z")
We have been seeing some kind of large hornet here in the Cleveland area for about 4 years now. They appear in the fall and for a week or two are around at dusk. My neighbor has frequent cook outs and is always on the lookout for them. I don’t know what they are but they are huge compared to regular white faced hornets. They appear several at a time so are not cicada killers.
Dennis
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2020, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714/7 "2020-07-19T05:30:16Z")
> [@mixdenny](#):
>
> They appear several at a time so are not cicada killers.
I’ve had multiple simultaneous cicada killer wasp burrows in my yard.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714/8 "2020-07-19T21:55:51Z")
Given that it’s that time in 1.7 decades, it probably was a cicada killer, but it looked burlier than those wiki photos, and with shorter wings.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-hornets-in-suburban-chicago/915714/9 "2020-07-20T20:20:15Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#):
>
> I’ve had multiple simultaneous cicada killer wasp burrows in my yard
I wonder if they increase in number when swarms occur.