Update: Two more live ‘murder hornet’ sighting after first of 2021 confirmed in Whatcom
The first live Asian giant hornet sighted in 2021 in Washington state was found attacking a paper wasp nest in a rural area of northern Whatcom County earlier this week.
According to a Washington State Department of Agriculture news release Thursday, Aug. 12, the report was confirmed as being an Asian giant hornet, which are popularly known as “murder hornets.”
On Thursday, an agriculture team captured a live Asian Giant Hornet and they got another one Friday morning, Aug. 13, according to a department Facebook post.
“Both hornets were tagged, given a pre-flight strawberry jam meal, and released,” the post said.
The hornets left after several hours and the department tracked them Friday but has not located a nest.
“The radio tags will run for up to two weeks, and we will continue to search the area in an attempt to locate the nest,” the post said.
The original report was submitted, along with a photo of the Asian giant hornet attacking a paper wasp nest, by a Whatcom County resident on Wednesday, Aug. 11, and state entomologists reviewed and confirmed the report. The Asian Giant hornet was spotted approximately two miles from where the state Department of Agriculture eradicated the first Asian giant hornet nest in the United States last October, according to the release.
“This hornet is exhibiting the same behavior we saw last year – attacking paper wasp nests,” Department of Agriculture Managing Entomologist Sven Spichiger said in the release. “If you have paper wasp nests on your property and live in the area, keep an eye on them and report any Asian giant hornets you see. Note the direction they fly off to as well.”
A dead Asian giant hornet was located near Marysville in mid-June, but the one found in Whatcom County is the first one found alive this year.
Up to 2 inches long, the Asian giant hornet, or Vespa mandarinia, is the world’s largest hornet species. They are identifiable by their large yellow/orange heads.
The hornets are known for their painful stings.
They will attack people and pets when threatened. People should be extremely cautious near them, state agriculture officials have said, and those who have allergic reactions to bee or wasp stings should never approach an Asian giant hornet.
The invasive hornets are feared for the threat they pose to honeybees and, by extension, the valuable crops in Washington state that the bees pollinate, including blueberry and other cane crops in the region that includes Whatcom County.
They also prey on local pollinators such as wasps, posing a threat to the local ecosystem, state entomologists have said.
“Asian giant hornets are an invasive pest not native to the U.S.,” Thursday’s release stated. “They are the world’s largest hornet and prey on honey bees and other insects. These hornets may attack honey bee hives in the late summer or early fall. A small group of Asian giant hornets can kill an entire honey bee hive in a matter of hours.”
After the live Asian giant hornet was found this week in Whatcom County, the state Department of Agriculture is planning to set live traps in the area in the hopes of catching a live hornet, tagging it and tracking it back to its nest, the release said. Canadian officials will set additional traps across the border for the same purpose, as Wednesday’s hornet was spotted about a half-mile from the border.
“Public reports of Asian giant hornet sightings continue to be critical to locating the pest,” the Department of Agriculture release stated, adding that half of Washington’s confirmed reports and all of Canada’s confirmed reported came from public reports, as have both reports so far this summer.
Even though the Department of Agriculture, cooperators and public individuals have set Asian giant hornet traps throughout the state this year, no hornets have been detected in traps, yet.
Spot a ‘murder hornet’?
Washington state residents can report possible sightings of an Asian giant hornet to the state Department of Agriculture online at agr.wa.gov/hornets, via email at hornets@agr.wa.gov, or by calling 1-800-443-6684.
Take a photo or keep a specimen if you can. They’re needed for confirmation.
Citizen science trapping instructions also are on the website.
More on the department’s Asian giant hornet effort can be found at facebook.com/groups/hornets.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Update: Two more live ‘murder hornet’ sighting after first of 2021 confirmed in Whatcom."
