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1st Asian giant hornet found in Snohomish County

Entomologists believe the invasive insect is an “old hornet from a previous season that wasn’t discovered until now” because it was “very dried out."

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — A dead Asian giant hornet was found near Marysville earlier this month, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) announced Wednesday. The male hornet was found by a resident and is the first confirmed report of the insect in Snohomish County.

Asian giant hornets are an invasive species that attack honey beehives for protein, potentially taking out 30,000 honey bees in an otherwise healthy hive.

The hornets have a distinct orange/yellow face with large dark eyes and can be two inches long. The WSDA said nests have been discovered and destroyed in Nanaimo, British Columbia, and near Blaine, Washington.

The WSDA said the invasive species was found dead in a yard on the evening of June 4 and reported to the department’s Hornet Watch Report Form. The resident was contacted on June 7, and WSDA entomologists retrieved the dead specimen on June 8.

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The hornet had different coloring than other specimens collected in Washington state last year, so the insect was sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for verification.

Credit: Washington State Department of Agriculture
A dead Asian giant hornet found near Marysville on June 4, 2021.

USDA APHIS entomologists confirmed the insect was an Asian giant hornet on June 11. The different color variations and DNA testing indicate the insect “appears to be unrelated to the Whatcom County or Canadian Asian giant hornet introductions,” according to the WSDA.

“I want to very much clarify that a single dead specimen does not indicate a population, and for that reason, we will be taking some extra precautions and getting traps up in the area,” WSDA Managing Entomologist Sven Spichiger said during a press conference Wednesday. “But at this time, there is not enough evidence to support that a population exists in Snohomish County.”

Entomologists believe the invasive insect is an “old hornet from a previous season that wasn’t discovered until now” because it was “very dried out” when it was discovered. The WSDA said new males usually don’t emerge from nests until “at least July.”

RELATED: Experts believe there are more Asian giant hornet nests in the Pacific Northwest

Spichiger said he believes the Asian giant hornet found in Snohomish County “died in a protected place and maybe [had] fallen out and landed on the lawn there.” However, Spichiger said there isn’t enough current information to speculate how to hornet got to Marysville.

“The find is perplexing because it is too early for a male to emerge,” said Dr. Osama El-Lissy, deputy administrator for the USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine program. “Last year, the first males emerged in late July, which was earlier than expected. However, we will work with WSDA to survey the area to verify whether a population exists in Snohomish County."

An Asian giant hornet nest was discovered in a tree in Whatcom County in October 2020 and successfully eradicated, however, entomologists said at the time they believed more nests are out there.

“This new report continues to underscore how important public reporting is for all suspected invasive species, but especially Asian giant hornet,” said Spichiger. “We’ll now be setting traps in the area and encouraging citizen scientists to trap in Snohomish and King counties. None of this would have happened without an alert resident taking the time to snap a photo and submit a report.”

To report an Asian giant hornet sighting, head to the WSDA's website here.

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