Washington state officials announced they have found an active Asian giant hornet nest for the first time since the insects were spotted last year.
“The rumors are true,” the Washington State Department of Agriculture tweeted on Friday. “Our entomologists located the first-ever #AsianGiantHornet nest in the U.S. late yesterday.”
The rumors are true – our entomologists located the first-ever #AsianGiantHornet nest in the U.S. late yesterday. Press conference at 2 p.m. pic.twitter.com/oXuE6urXff
— WA St Dept of Agr (@WSDAgov) October 23, 2020
Roughly two inches in length, the Asian giant hornet earned the moniker “murder hornet” for the insect’s habit of eviscerating beehives, decapitating honeybees and taking the thorax — the middle segment of the bee — to feed its young.
The invasive pests were first spotted in the Pacific Northwest in December 2019, but only dead wasps were found. In May of this year, when the hornets began to emerge from hibernation, the Associated Press reported live murder hornets had been sighted. The first hornet was successfully captured in July.
Though the hornet poses a marginal risk for people, a couple of hornets can devastate entire honeybee hives, adding yet another risk to honeybee populations and apiarians who are still working to address colony collapse disorder.
Scientists aren’t certain what causes the disorder, but it results in a large portion of a bee colony abandoning the queen. The Environmental Protection Agency‘s website says that it could be caused by an invasive mite or a new or emerging disease. According to the agency, CCD cases have decreased over the last five years.
Last week, researchers in Washington attempted to track down a live hornet nest using a hornet they successfully trapped. They tied a tracking device to the hornet using a piece of dental floss, NPR reported. Scientists were briefly able to follow the hornet until they lost the signal in a blackberry thicket.
Scientists used a network of traps to find this nest, according to WXII 12. The department plans to destroy the nest on Saturday.
The WADA will hold a press conference at 2:00 p.m. local time to address the discovery.
