A huge 'murder hornet' has been trapped in the US - making it the first male to be captured in the country.
The Asian giant hornet was found in Washington State, and chilling images show the massive beast, which officials fear could pose a threat to humans.
They can grow to two-and-a-half inches long.
The terrifying hornets prey on bees by decapitating them, and have caused a headache for ecologists.
A statement from the Washington State Department of Agriculture said: “Unfortunately, on July 14th, one of our WSDA traps was able to pick up a specimen of Asian giant hornet in the Birch Bay area."
WSDA official Sven-Erik Spichiger said: "Our initial feeling is that this is a worker hornet.
"Our response to this will be to inundate the area immediately surrounding that positive trap capture with additional traps that are designed to capture the hornets alive.”
The department is now searching for nests using infrared cameras.
“We do have a response team ready to rope the area off and perform an eradication," he said.
Officials hope to capture one alive, which could be tagged and traced to a colony.
Describing how the hornets operate, the WSDA said: “The hornets enter a ‘slaughter phase’ where they kill bees by decapitating them.
"They then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young.”
