Murder Hornets Appear to Have Been Driven Out of the U.S.
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Murder hornets may have been eradicated from the United States as Washington recorded no sightings so far this year.
Called Northern giant hornets, or Asian giant hornets, the insects are the largest species of hornet in the world. They are native to Asia, and an invasive species in the U.S. that poses a great risk to the native ecosystem. Scientists are not sure how the species entered the country, though some suspect they may have come from an illegal importation.
The species were first detected in Blaine, Washington in December 2019, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture, (WSDA), as well as in British Columbia.
The WSDA recorded new sightings of the insect over the next two years. But this year in Washington, there have been none. Nearly 1,400 giant hornet traps were set up over the summer (some from the WSDA, some volunteer) that yielded no captures.
There have also been no sightings in states that previously recorded the insect, like Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. While unconfirmed, this could mean that the species has been eradicated from the U.S.
“We haven’t yet detected any hornets in our state this year. We don’t know yet if they’ve disappeared, however that is our goal, as we continue to monitor and eradicate when we find the nests,” Amber Betts, a spokesperson for WSDA told Newsweek.
“We will continue to monitor, trap, and utilize the help of our area citizen scientists. The year isn’t over, and we continue to trap these species into November.”
WSDA spokesperson Karla Salp told Newsweek that the department has to have three years of negative detections before they can officially declare them eradicated.
“Precisely what damage they would do to the ecosystem is not yet known. The biggest concern, of course, is their potential to negatively impact honeybee populations, which is of concern for food production. We have done some testing on fecal pellets in nests to determine what they have been feeding on here in Washington,” Salp said.
These species of hornets are known to attack honeybee hives. Just a few hornets can destroy a hive in just a few hours, according to the WSDA.
The hornets are also known to gruesomely attack the honeybees inside. Hornets decapitate the bees, before claiming the hive for their own.
The sting from a northern hornet is more severe then that of a honeybee. Their venom is more toxic and is injected through a much longer stinger. Unlike honeybees, hornets can also sting repeatedly. But they will only attack humans when they feel provoked, or threatened by a human.
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