Confirming the Buzz about Hornets

Background:

In September 2019, a colony of Vespa mandarinia (also known as the Asian giant hornet) was discovered on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The nest was quickly destroyed, but the news of the event spread rapidly throughout the area. Since that time, several confirmed sightings of the pest have occurred in neighboring Washington State, as well as a multitude of mistaken sightings. See Figure 1 below for a map of detections, hornet watches, and public sightings.

Vespa mandarinia is the largest species of hornet in the world, and the occurrence of the nest was alarming. Additionally, the giant hornet is a predator of European honeybees, invading and destroying their nests. A small number of the hornets are capable of destroying a whole colony of European honeybees in a short time. At the same time, they are voracious predators of other insects that are considered agricultural pests.

The life cycle of this hornet is similar to many other wasps. Fertilized queens emerge in the spring and begin a new colony. In the fall, new queens leave the nest and will spend the winter in the soil waiting for the spring. A new queen has a range estimated at 30km for establishing her nest. More detailed information on Asian hornets is included in the problem attachments and can also be found online.