Posted on 11/12/2020 6:53:23 AM PST by Red Badger
After months of searching, in October scientists located and destroyed the first nest of giant 'murder hornets' ever discovered in the US, eradicating a hidden enclave of the invasive insects concealed in a tree in Washington State, close to the Canadian border.
While the discovery and elimination of the nest is considered a victory by state and federal authorities – who are striving to prevent the Asian giant hornet from establishing a foothold in North America – a post-mortem of the hornets' former home provides a sobering perspective on the scale of the bug threat we're up against.
After tracking down the nest with an ingenious radio tag ploy, entomologists from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) vacuumed dozens of hornets out of the tree in which it was found, then cut the tree open to reveal the nest hidden inside, measuring about 35 centimetres long and 23 centimetres wide (14 by 9 inches).
010 nest hornets 3
That might not sound too large, but it turns out it's capacious enough to barrack a veritable army of murder hornets, capable of spawning a significant wave of subsequent invasion and colonisation.
Inside the nest, the researchers tallied 76 adult queens. Almost all but one of these were likely virgin queens – imminent matriarchs which eventually emerge from the nest, mate, and then leave the area to start a new colony elsewhere after winter has passed.
In addition, 108 capped cells with pupae were found, most of which the entomologists think would also have been virgin queens in development.
In other words, this one single nest – which took months for authorities to track down – contained the seeds of around 200 potential new colonies, if nature were to have had its way and scientists hadn't intervened.
"We got there just in the nick of time," WSDA entomologist Sven-Erik Spichiger told media during a virtual press conference on the developments.
"When you see … a relatively small nest like this able to pump out 200 queens, it does give one a little bit of pause."
Beyond the 200 queens, the researchers found 112 workers, nine drones, 190 larvae, and six unhatched eggs. All up, about 500 hornets were associated with the nest, many of which would have been capable of creating new nests.
Of course, just because this particular nest has been dealt with, it's possible other nests are already in existence, and that insects from this nest may have escaped before and during the eradication.
"We believe there are additional nests," Spichiger said. "There is no way to be certain we got them all."
While it's unclear how the Asian giant hornet got to North America, sightings in both the US and Canada since 2019 have put agricultural authorities on high alert, given the hornet has a tendency to slaughter local bee populations, which is where the 'murder' nickname comes from (it is not typically aggressive toward humans).
Despite the recent success of the WSDA's eradication, nobody in the entomology community is claiming outright victory here.
Even if the stateside presence has been expunged – which is perhaps unlikely – a spate of sightings over the border in British Columbia in recent weeks suggests the hornet may already be dispersed in the region.
In other words, the battle might be over, but the war has just begun – and continued vigilance from authorities and local citizens reporting hornet sightings will be the best chance of winning it. In the meantime, optimism is a virtue.
"From accounts we have, we're very close to having the majority of them," Spichiger said in reference to the queen bees captured so far. "But I can't give you an absolute, certainly, that we got every single one from the nest."
200 queens, but less than 5% ‘naturally’ survive the winter
I’m going out on a limb and stating the second picture did not come from the nest referred to in the story...
Representatives of the LGBTQ community expressed outrage.
They found a hollow log in the forest after tagging a few hornets with tracking devices. Sealed it then gassed it............
San Francisco?
“... imminent matriarchs which eventually emerge from the nest, mate, and then leave the area to start a new colony elsewhere after winter has passed.”
~~~
Mother of hornets!
Brace yourselves
They come from Japan and other Asian countries where winters are more harsh that in Washington State...................5% may turn into >25% here!...............
I would bet even money the Chinese or the Norks started this ‘invasion’ with some captured hornets let loose on our shores by personnel or remote control in one of those thousands of cargo containers.................
What is the source of your information ?
200 queens, but less than 5% ‘naturally’ survive the winter
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The media lies and hypes *every* damn story, including this. Yes, a colony has the potential of hundreds of queens, but only a few survive until Spring. of the few queens that hatch, then kill each other until one survives.
Here’s a ‘Conspiracy Theory’ for you:
These hornets were intentionally brought to the US inside cargo containers on ships and let loose off shore surreptitiously so they could invade the US and multiply by the millions.........................
“...tagging a few hornets with tracking devices....”
They can do that??? Amazing. Excellent way to find, fix, destroy them.
Is PETA planning a candlelight vigil?
The search begins for a natural predator.
There have to be a few animals who would like to hunt down and eat these hornets. Animals impervious to the stings and vemon. Honey Badgers? Beavers? Capybaras? (aka Giant Rats).
OMG... The Zanti Misfits return!!!!!
Scared the crap out of me when I was a little kid, watching that episode of The Outer Limits...
We are sooooo screwed!
Look at the second photo, someone picking the frozen hornets up by using chopsticks. What is missing in this photo?
Gloves!! Of all times not to be wearing any sort of cheap glove. Haven’t they heard about that Kick-A*s vemon that the hornets make?
AFAIK, they have no natural predator enemies...................
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