The Washington state Department of Agriculture says the second sighting of a so-called murder hornet this year was reported by a person in Whatcom County this week.
The Asian giant hornet was reported by a Whatcom County resident Wednesday and state entomologists confirmed the sighting yesterday (Thurs). The resident’s report included a photograph of the hornet attacking a paper wasp nest in a rural area east of the town of Blaine, about two miles from where state workers eradicated the first Asian giant hornet nest in the United States last October.
The Department of Agriculture will set traps in the area in an attempt to catch a live hornet, tag it, and track it back to the nest. The government of British Columbia will also set traps in Canada because the latest detection was approximately half a mile from the border.
This year there have only been two confirmed reports in Washington, and both were from public reports. There have been no confirmed reports in Canada.
The 2-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 toward humans, their sting is extremely painful and repeated stings, though rare, can kill. (AP)
