Invasive murder hornets are being eliminated in the United States, officials say

Seattle AP —

The world's largest hornet, an invasive breed nicknamed the murder hornet because of its dangerous sting and ability to take down a hive of bees in a matter of hours, has been declared eradicated in the United States, five years after it was spotted for the first time in Washington State. near the Canadian border.

The Washington and U.S. Departments of Agriculture announced the eradication Wednesday, saying there have been no detections of the northern giant hornet in Washington state since 2021.

The news represented a huge success: residents agreed to place traps on their properties and reported their sightings, as well as researchers capturing a live hornet, attaching a small radio tracking tag to it with dental floss and following it to through a forest to a nest. in an alder tree. Scientists destroyed the nest when a number of queens were just beginning to emerge, officials said.

I have to tell you that as an entomologist, I have been doing this for over 25 years now, and it is a rare day when humans manage to win a game against insects, Sven Spichiger, head of the Department's pest control program of Washington State Agriculture, said during a virtual press conference.

The hornets, which can grow up to 2 inches long and were once called Asian giant hornets, gained attention in 2013, when they killed 42 people in China and seriously injured 1,675. In the United States, about 72 People die every year from bee and hornet stings, according to data from the National Institutes of Health.

The hornets were first detected in North America, in British Columbia, Canada, in August 2019 and confirmed in Washington state in December 2019, when a Whatcom County resident reported a specimen. A beekeeper also reported that hives were attacked and handed over specimens during the summer of 2020. The hornets could have traveled to North America in flower pots or shipping containers, experts say.

DNA evidence suggests that the populations found in British Columbia and Washington state were unrelated and appeared to come from different countries. There have also been no confirmed reports in British Columbia since 2021, and the non-profit Canadian Center for Invasive Species said the hornet was considered eradicated there as well.

Northern giant hornets pose a significant threat to native pollinators and insects. They can wipe out a hive of honey bees in as little as 90 minutes, decapitate the bees, then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young.

The hornet can sting through most beekeeper combinations, deliver nearly seven times more venom than a honey bee, and sting multiple times. At one point, the Washington Department of Agriculture ordered special reinforced suits from China.

Washington is the only state to have confirmed the presence of northern giant hornets. Trappers found four nests in 2020 and 2021.

Spichiger said Washington would remain on the lookout, even if eradication has been announced. He noted that entomologists will continue to monitor traps in Kitsap County, where a resident reported an unconfirmed sighting in October but where trapping and public outreach efforts have proven unsuccessful.

He noted that other invasive hornets can also pose problems: Authorities in Georgia and South Carolina are battling yellow-legged hornets, and southern giant hornets were recently detected in Spain.

We will continue to be vigilant, Spichiger said.

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