Lifeless ‘homicide hornet’ discovered close to Seattle is first in U.S. this 12 months

SPOKANE, Washington – Scientists have found a dead Asian giant hornet north of Seattle, the first so-called murder hornet to be discovered in the country this year, federal and state investigators said on Wednesday.

State and US Department of Agriculture entomologists said it was the first confirmed report from Snohomish County, north of Seattle, and appears to have nothing to do with the 2019 and 2020 hornet results in Canada and Whatcom Counties along the Canadian border, which were widespread attention.

The two-inch-long invasive insects, first found near the U.S.-Canadian border in December 2019, are native to Asia and pose a threat to honeybees and native hornet species. While not particularly aggressive towards humans, their sting is extremely painful and repeated stitches can, although rarely, be fatal.

The world’s largest hornet is a much greater threat to honeybees, which rely on crop pollination. They attack beehives, destroy them within a few hours and behead bees in what scientists call their “slaughter phase”. How they got here from Asia is unclear, although it is believed that they travel on cargo ships.

“Hitchhikers are a side effect of our global trade,” says Sven Spichiger, an entomologist from the state agriculture ministry who is eradicating the fight against hornets.

In the most recent sighting, a local resident found the dead hornet on his lawn near the town of Marysville and reported it to the state agency on June 4. Entomologists found it on June 8th and reported that it was very dried out and a male hornet.

Given the time of year that it was a male and the specimen was exceptionally dry, entomologists believe it was an old hornet from a previous season that has not yet been discovered, officials said. New males usually don’t hatch until July.

There’s no obvious way the hornet got into Marysville, officials said.

“The find is confusing because it is too early for a male to surface,” said Dr. Osama El-Lissy, assistant administrator of the US Department of Agriculture’s quarantine program.

El-Lissy said the federal agency will work with state officials “to investigate the area to see if there is a population in Snohomish County.”

Since it was first found in that county and was a different coloration than specimens previously collected in North America, the hornet was submitted to the Federal Animal and Phytosanitary Inspection Service for final inspection.

On June 11, entomologists confirmed that it was a giant Asian hornet. DNA testing revealed that the sample appeared to have nothing to do with hornet introductions in Whatcom County or Canada.

Spichiger said the newly found hornet had no orange bands on its belly and was likely from a country in South Asia.

“This new report further underscores the importance of public reporting for all suspected invasive species, but especially for Asian giant hornets,” he said.

In 2020, half of the confirmed sightings of Asian giant hornets in Washington and all of the confirmed sightings in Canada came from the public, officials said.

“We will now trap the area and encourage citizen scientists to trap in Counties Snohomish and King,” said Spichiger. “None of this would have happened without an attentive resident taking the time to snap a photo and submit a report. ”

The USDA has put the giant hornets on its quarantine pest list, giving Washington State more tools to help eradicate the invasive species.