Murder hornets, scientifically known as Vespa mandarinia, are the world’s largest hornet species, native to Asia. The last time were buzzing around Washington State.
While their name stems from their aggressive behavior towards honeybee populations, which they can decimate rapidly, they fact is they give a potentially lethal sting to humans. They kill 30-50 people each year in their native Japan, usually through an adverse reaction to the sting. In fact, back in 2022, murder hornets killed 5 people in France.
There is now some good news to share. The invasive insects have officially been declared eradicated in the US.
The northern giant hornet has not been detected in three years, prompting officials to announce its eradication from the United States, the Washington and U.S. Agriculture departments said in a joint statement Wednesday.Officials said the multiyear effort to eradicate the species, which began in 2019, involved “extensive collaboration between state, federal, and international government agencies as well as significant support from community members and groups.””I’m incredibly proud of our team, which has dedicated years of hard work to safeguarding our state and the nation from this invasive threat to our native pollinators and agriculture,” Washington Agriculture Director Derek Sandison said in the statement.
The successful program targeted the hornets’ nests….and used the “greenhouse gas” carbon dioxide as part of the fumigation process.
State, federal and international government agencies worked together to eradicate “murder hornets” in the U.S., the officials said.To do so, first entomologists had to find the hornets’ nests. Finding the nests can be a challenge, because the hornets typically build their nests in forested areas, often in an underground cavity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In some cases, entomologists captured a live hornet, attached a radio tag to it, released it, and tracked the hornet back to its nest. Figuring out how to securely attach a radio tag to a hornet without harming it was a hurdle.After finding a nest in a tree, a team plugged the nest with foam, wrapped the tree in plastic and vacuumed out the hornets. They also injected carbon dioxide into the tree to kill any remaining hornets.
I think I am good with warmer temperatures if it means less murder hornets.
The public’s assistance with this effort contributed to its success. However, vigilance in preventing another hornet invasion will continue.
The WSDA [Washington State Department of Agriculture] commends the public for their help in identifying and reporting the invasive hornets over the years. “Without the public’s support for this effort, it is unlikely we would be announcing the eradication of northern giant hornet today,” said Sven Spichiger, WSDA pest program manager.”All of our nest detections resulted directly or indirectly from public reports. And half of our confirmed detections came from the public. The people of Washington can be proud that we did this by working together,” Spichiger said.Though northern giant hornets have been declared eradicated from Washington, the WSDA said they won’t stop encouraging the community to keep an eye out, and they will, too. “They got here once and they could do it again,” Spichiger said.
I have to say, the scientists who shoved radio tags onto these hornets were brave professionals, indeed.
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