Is there any non-sensationalized info I can read on Asian Giant Hornets?

Personally I thought this was old news, and that people understood that the news media (again) blew something out of proportion. But still quite often when I mention that I like taking pictures of Bees people ask me about “murder hornets” (It’s not a Bee), and last week, I had someone tell me they’d found one, killed it and how “we have to find that nest”, unlikely, I’m in Illinois about 2000 miles from Washington.

Is there some real information on their North American population that I can read to enlighten these people? With Bees emerging in the area, I’d like to nip any witch hunts in the bud.

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I can’t help you on the information front. I just wanted to mention that I live in Washington, I’ve received at least two things in the mail urging me to make an Asian Giant Hornet trap, and one of the local FM radio stations is bragging that if you take part in their contest you can win a (dead) murder hornet! The full ad includes recordings of people screaming and saying “We’re gonna send them back to hell where they came from!” Sensationalized, indeed (hilarious to listen to, though, which is half the point). But none of the real people I talk to seem worried about them.

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As usual, if you want a non-sensational account of something, Wikipedia is the place to go:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet

Of course this article is not only about the North American population, but there is a long section about that very topic:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet#North_America

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Thanks, that gives me a base point.

However, cautious optimism was expressed by officials saying that it might still be possible to eradicate the hornets before they can become endemic to the area.

Oops, it would appear that officials don’t understand endemicity…

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I will change that.

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I just now edited the Wikipedia article so it now says “established in” instead of “endemic to” the area. Even if the official said endemic, he or she clearly did not mean that. They actually meant established or naturalized in the area.

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It’s official… officials need experts, at least to interpret /proofread for them!

When I saw the “last edit by: invertzoo” I figured a reply to you with that comment would result in a fix :)

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You were right. :)

Hi friends. Sorry I am kind of late to the party.

Last year when the news first blew up, my department trained us on being ready to handle inquiries etc about Vespa mandarinia using the USDA’s New Pest Response Guidelines for it.

You can find the 62 page pdf for free here:

https://cms.agr.wa.gov/WSDAKentico/Documents/PP/PestProgram/Vespa_mandarinia_NPRG_10Feb2020-(002).pdf

It’s a pretty good read. I hope that helps.

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Thanks, this is definitely a case of better late then never, we had someone bring in a dead Sphecius speciosus to the district last week asking if it was a “murder hornet”. I look forward to reading that.

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