Murder Hornets Absent from Washington

It may be too early to say definitively, but murder hornets, Vespa mandarinia, appear to have evacuated the state of Washington. An invasive species from Asia, the insect garnered headlines for the large size, painful sting and behavior of decapitating native bees with large mandibles when they raid bee hives to feed to their larvae. Department of Agriculture researchers have found no northern giant hornets (their new common name) in traps set out for them. The Department laid 960 traps and volunteers laid 373 more this summer. State officials took decisive action in locating their nests and eradicating the insects before their numbers got out of control. A total of four hives were destroyed over the past few years. Hornet experts will contiue to set traps until there are three consecutive years without confirmed captures of northern gian hornets. They were first found in British Columbia and Washington in 2019, undoubtably a result of international trade in commodities.

    

Meanwhile on another part of the planet, a giant Asian hornets' nest was found hanging from the ceiling of a public restroom in Jersey, England. [J. DeCarteret photo right] The theme park where they choose to nest is closed, but still accessible to the public. They are the largest hornet in the world with queens reacing two inches in length. Single stings are not fatal, but extremely painful. If a swarm were to attack a person, it could kill them, esopecially if the unfortunate victim is allergic to insect stings. Of more conern is the havoc they wreak on native bee populations. One hornet can eat fifty bees in a day. Both Channel islands of Jersey and Guernsey are infested with the invasive flying insects. A record 158 nests have been exterminated in Jersey this year. Giant Asian hornets began spreading through Euorpe in 2004 after arriving in southern France on a freighter. They were first spotted in Jersey in 2016.