This desiccated male “murder hornet” was found in Washington State in June 2021.
Washington State Department of Agriculture
The first confirmed report from 2021 onwards Asian giant hornet – a worrying and invasive species in the US and Canada – is now in. The large flying insects have earned the nickname “murder hornets” for their venom and the way they devastate bee populations by decapitating the smaller insects.
A Snohomish County resident spotted the first hornet of 2021, and the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed it was a male of its species. The condition of the dead, dried up hornet raised questions about its origin.
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“The find is confusing because it is too early for a male to show up,” Osama El-Lissy, assistant administrator of the USDA Phytosanitary and Quarantine Program, said in a WSDA statement on Wednesday. In 2020, the males began to hatch in late July. Entomologists suspect that the hornet could be an old one from a previous season.
While the hornets are bad news for bees, they can also be dangerous to humans. The insects have long spines, can sting multiple times and are fatal to humans. Last year the WSDA is known to have located and destroyed a murder hornet’s nest as part of the effort to exterminate the invaders.
“We will now trap the area and encourage citizen scientists to trap in Counties Snohomish and King,” said WSDA executive entomologist Sven Spichiger. “None of this would have happened without an attentive resident taking the time to snap a photo and submit a report.”
