US: First ever nest of Asian Giant Hornets located in a tree cavity; watch video
The Washington State Department of Agriculture on October 23 reported that it had found the first ever nest of the ‘Asian Giant Hornets’ in the United States.
- World News
- 2 min read
The Washington State Department of Agriculture on October 23 reported that it had found the first ever nest of the ‘Asian Giant Hornets’ in the United States. Also called ‘murder hornets’, the nest was located after entomologists trapped and tracked an Asian Giant Hornet back to its nest in a tree cavity near Blaine, Washington. As per the released report, the agency will try on eradicating the nest on October 24.
Come on now, this is cute! An #AsianGiantHornet enjoyed some strawberry jam after being tagged yesterday. pic.twitter.com/1nQCL3oX1w
— WA St Dept of Agr (@WSDAgov) October 23, 2020
First ever nest located
The nest is located in a private property near an area cleared for a residential home. The reports says, “While Asian giant hornets normally nest in the ground, they are occasionally found nesting in dead trees. Dozens of the hornets were seen entering and exiting the tree while the WSDA team was present”. The property owner has agreed with the WSDA in eradicating the nest and removing the trees as well if required. Asian giant hornets are considered to be an invasive pest which is not native to the US. Also, they are the world’s largest hornet and a predator of honey bees and other insects. According to the reports by agr.wa.gov, a small group of Asian giant hornets can kill an entire honey bee hive in a few hours.
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State entomologist Sven Spichiger said in a press conference that the department is very pleased to tell what they did to find a nest. He added that the scientists were not sure if they were following the ‘correct techniques’ to track the hornets until the nest was found. First such hornets were caught earlier this year and since then WSDA has been actively searching for Asian giant hornet nests. The first detection of an Asian giant hornet was done in December 2019 and was caught in July 2020.