First 'murder hornet' nest discovered in Washington State

The first known Asian giant hornet nest in the United States was discovered in Washington State on Thursday, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has announced.

The nest was discovered in a tree cavity in Blaine, a small town resting along the border between Washington and British Columbia. According to the WSDA, "entomologists were able to attach radio trackers to three hornets, the second of which lead them to the discovery of the nest."

This is not the first time that an Asian giant hornet nest has been discovered in North America, with a nest in Nanaimo, British Columbia, having been found and destroyed in August of this year. Multiple other sightings have taken place in British Columbia both before and after the nest's discovery, with authorities asking residents of the province's Lower Mainland region to be on the lookout for the pests.

Despite the close proximity between Blaine and the Lower Mainland, it appears the two populations were introduced separately. DNA evidence suggests that the population in British Columbia originates from Japan while the hornets discovered in Washington originate from South Korea.

Menacingly dubbed the 'murder hornet,' the Asian giant hornet is the largest hornet in the world and is native to East Asia. With a wingspan of 3 inches and a stinger measuring 6 millimeters long, they are easily differentiated from other vespidae by their sheer size. They tend to live around the base of forested mountains, making them unfortunately adaptable to the geography of the Pacific Northwest.

While they wield a powerful stinger which can cause immense pain, they are not individually dangerous to humans. That being said, a swarm of Asian giant hornets in the Chinese province of Shaanxi killed 41 people and injured over 1,600 in 2013, and an individual stung enough times, typically over 50, may suffer anaphylactic shock, liver failure, or cardiac arrest.

The WSDA warns people to exhibit "extreme caution near Asian giant hornets" and to contact authorities immediately if they spot a nest.

However, the hornets do not bare their name for their relationship to humans. The hornets instead derive their name from their behaviour towards bees. Asian giant hornets will enter beehives and, using their immense size advantage, will decapitate every bee in an entire hive in a matter of hours. Such behaviour is particularly worrisome given that the American bee population is already facing a steep population decline.

Asian giant hornets were first spotted in the Pacific Northwest late last year, with authorities desperately trying to track down their nests ever since. The discovery of this nest comes as a major victory to those trying to keep the invasive species out.

"Using a network of traps, some set by WSDA staff and hundreds more placed by citizen scientists and other cooperators throughout the state, the entomologists have been diligently tracking sightings of the Asian giant hornet in an ongoing effort to find nests to eliminate them," the WSDA said in their press release.

The WSDA plans to eradicate the nest with permission from the property owner. The nest was originally scheduled for destruction on Friday, but authorities had to delay due to weather.

Experts warn that the spread of the hornets in the region could prove disastrous for the local environment, and the invasive species could spread across the west coast if not enough is done to eradicate them.