Washington's First Live Asian Giant Hornet Sighting of 2021 Confirmed

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) confirmed the first report of a live Asian giant hornet sighting in Washington in 2021.

The report was submitted by a Whatcom County resident on Aug. 11. WSDA entomologists reviewed and confirmed the report as an Asian giant hornet the next day. The report included a photograph of an Asian giant hornet attacking a paper wasp nest in a rural area east of Blaine, which is about two miles from where WSDA eradicated the first Asian giant hornet nest in the United States last Oct.

WSDA managing entomologist, Sven Spichiger said, "This hornet is exhibiting the same behavior we saw last year – attacking paper wasp nests. If you have paper wasp nests on your property and live in the area, keep an eye on them and report any Asian giant hornets you see. Note the direction they fly off to as well."

In responses to this detection, WSDA will be setting live traps in the area in an attempt to catch a live hornet, tag it and track it back to the nest. The British Columbia government will also be setting additional traps in Canada as this detection was approximately half a mile from the U.S./Canadian border.

Public reports of Asian giant hornet sightings continue to be critical to locating the pest. In 2020, half of WSDA's confirmed reports and all of Canada's confirmed reports came from the public. This year there have only been two confirmed reports in Washington, and both were from public reports; there have been no confirmed reports in British Columbia. While WSDA, cooperators and the public have set Asian giant hornet traps throughout the state, there have not been any detections in traps in 2021.

Asian giant hornets are an invasive pest not native to the U.S. They are the world's largest hornet and prey on honeybees and other insects. These hornets may attack honeybee hives in the late summer or early fall. A small group of Asian giant hornets can kill an entire honeybee hive in a matter of hours.

Visiting WSDA's website at agr.wa.gov/hornets is the best way to report suspected hornet sightings.