Robyn Stewart
Press coverage from several news outlets last week led to a surge of interest in the Asian giant hornet and led to widespread speculation and concern. While we should take any invasive species seriously, there is a lot of misinformation being spread in the media about what the Asian giant hornet is, who should be concerned, and what we should do about it. To date, the Asian giant hornet has only been identified in Washington State.
In 2019 the Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia was found in Vancouver Island (Canada) and Washington state (U.S.). A colony of Asian giant hornets was present in Vancouver Island but was subsequently identified and destroyed in August of 2019. A single dead Asian giant hornet was found in Washington State in December of 2019, but there has not been a colony identified or destroyed in the U.S. at this time. The Washington State Department of Agriculture is actively setting traps and monitoring for any additional individuals or colonies of this pest.
One of the things most promoted in the media is the size and danger of the Asian giant hornet. This species is the world’s largest true hornet and can be 1.5-2 inches long. As a comparison a typical yellow jacket is between 0.5-0.7 inches long. The Asian giant hornet can be identified by the following characteristics: enlarged yellow/orange head, base of antenna is yellow/orange in color, brown thorax, ¼ inch long stinger, and yellow and brown abdominal banding.
The Asian giant hornet follows a typical wasp life cycle where a solitary female emerges from hibernation, establishes a nest in the ground, and forages and incubates her young. The colony grows as workers take over foraging duties, and new queens and males emerge and mate in the late summer. Eventually, the males and workers die, leaving the queen to hibernate for winter and repeat the cycle the next spring.
The Asian Giant hornet is not necessarily aggressive towards other creatures but will sting if provoked. Due to its large size, the hornet typically deposits more venom in each sting than other bees and wasps, however, one or more stings should not be life-threatening to an average individual. Human sting deaths most often occur in those who are allergic, prone to anaphylactic reactions, or who receive a large number of stings.
A major concern with this invasive pest is its impact on honey bee colonies as the Asian giant hornet can annihilate an entire colony within a matter of hours. There are three phases to a honey bee colony invasion by the Asian giant hornet. First, individual hornets will capture honey bees at the entrance of the colony, decapitate them, and take a “meat ball” from the bee’s thorax to feed to their young. Then, hornets will use pheromones to mark a specific honey bee colony for extermination. Numerous individual hornets will then descend on the marked colony, killing all of the worker bees via decapitation and dumping their bodies on the ground below the nest. Finally, the hornets take over the honey bee hive, collect the pupae and larvae, and use these to feed their own young. A key identifier of the Asian giant hornet invasion of a honey bee hive is piles of decapitated or ripped apart bees below and around a colony. If there is a pile of intact dead bees, it is likely the result of something else, like pesticides or starvation.
There have been no sightings or cases of the Asian giant hornet being anywhere outside of Washington State, so while Georgia residents should be vigilant, this is not a pressing concern for us at this time. There are a variety of bee and wasp species in Georgia that could be confused with the Asian giant hornet, including Cicada killers, European hornets, Southern yellowjackets, and Baldfaced hornets. There are a variety of resources to help identify these different bee and wasp species on the UGA Extension website and Lincoln County Extension Facebook page. Also, a friendly reminder that wasps, hornets, bees, and other insects can all contribute to the pollination of our plants, flowers, and food sources!
