‘Murder hornet’ eradicated, but invasive relative lingers in Ga., S.C.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The once-ominous and much-ballyhooed “murder hornet” has been eradicated in the U.S., but another invasive cousin is spreading in the two-state region.
Nests of the invasive and bee-killing yellow-legged hornets have been found in Georgia and South Carolina.
They’re a danger to the agriculture industry because they kill bees, which are crucial for pollination.
One yellow-legged hornet is capable of killing an entire colony of honey bees.
The hornets are not a direct threat to humans, but they are a threat to the agriculture industry since the invasive species eats pollinators like honeybees.
YELLOW-LEGGED HORNET:
- The yellow-legged hornet is native to Southeast Asia and has established itself in most of Europe and areas of the Middle East and Asia. The hornet builds egg-shaped paper nests above ground and often in trees. The nest can be large and house an average of 6,000 workers.
Just a few months ago, back in August, nests of the hornets were found in Georgia and South Carolina.
Five nests were found Aug. 13 and 14 in Savannah and eradicated.
In South Carolina, multiple yellow-legged hornet secondary nests have been destroyed near Hilton Head Island in Beaufort County.
However, the world’s largest hornet, an invasive breed dubbed the “murder hornet” for its dangerous sting and ability to slaughter a honey bee hive in a matter of hours, has been declared eradicated in the U.S.
This comes five years after it was spotted for the first time in Washington state near the Canadian border.
The Washington and U.S. Departments of Agriculture announced the eradication Wednesday, saying there had been no detections of the northern giant hornet in Washington since 2021.
The news represented an enormous success that included residents agreeing to place traps on their properties and reporting sightings, as well as researchers capturing a live hornet, attaching a tiny radio tracking tag to it with dental floss, and following it through a forest to a nest in an alder tree. Scientists destroyed the nest just as a number of queens were just beginning to emerge, officials said.
“I’ve gotta tell you, as an entomologist — I’ve been doing this for over 25 years now, and it is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects,” Sven Spichiger, pest program manager of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told a virtual news conference.
“We will continue to be vigilant,” Spichiger said.
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