It's been years since Coyote Peterson was stung by a Japanese giant hornet -- a subspecies of the Asian giant hornet -- but the American wildlife educator vividly remembers how the sting immediately felt like a 'red hot fire poker' being shoved into his skin, followed by residual, almost unbearable pain that lasted for hours.

Sightings of the Asian giant hornet have prompted fears that the vicious insect could establish itself in the United States and devastate bee populations.

Mostly found in Asia and parts of Russia, the hornets are common in Japan. But in the country’s central Chubu region, the dangerous beings are eaten as a delicacy.