A new invasive species has been discovered in Guam, and scientists are asking for your help to find it and eradicate it, as it could pose a health hazard to Guam's vulnerable populations. It's typically found throughout Southeast Asia, but just a few days ago the predatory wasp, Vespa Tropica, was discovered here in Guam, marking a new record for the Marianas.

Known as the great banded hornet, it's a particularly aggressive wasp species. "These are predators, so they actually go after honeybees and other wasps, and so if you get close to the nest it'll come out and go after you," said Dr. Ross Miller, an epidemiologist at the University of Guam. The wasps are easy to distinguish because of their distinctive color - black with a wide yellow band across their abdomen, and their large size - one and a half to two inches long. "This is bigger, has a very long stinger, has a lot of venom - so it can sting multiple times," he warned.

A photo posted by KUAM News (@kuamnews) on Jul 31, 2016 at 8:04pm PDT

Their stings pose a possible health hazard to children and the elderly, and are particularly dangerous for those who are less resistant. Dr. Miller added, "For a normal healthy person it would just be very, very painful. And they may be stung multiple times which would again cause them to swell up, unlikely to cause death, but if someone is allergic, and they're stung by this wasp or others, they have about 30 minutes to inject themselves."

If not, the allergic person could go into anaphylactic shock, and possibly suffocate. In fact, Dr. Miller said bees are some of the most dangerous insects in the United States, killing more people every year than sharks, grizzly bears or any other animal. "As I said, at the moment we've only found two nests and we hope that that's it. We think it's unlikely that there are still nests out there that we haven't found.

"We really would like the public to help us out on this, if they think they have this wasp, give us a call at 735-2001, and give us the contact info and well take it from there."