If you don’t feel enough about the end of the world these days, don’t bother to suggest locusts. Instead, the murder of Bumblebee is back.
Washington State Department of Agriculture Announced on Thursday Washington State recorded the first sighting of an Asian Hornet in 2021. A resident in a rural area east of Blaine, Washington, discovered this invasive and violent insect, about two miles from the species’ large nest. It was eradicated last fall.
On Thursday, a hornet was photographed attacking a paper wasp nest. National entomologists reviewed and confirmed that it was an Asian giant hornet.
WSDA will now set up real-time traps in the area, trying to catch, mark and track the bumblebee back to the nest. This high-tech insect tracking was put into use last year, involving some equipment insights and guidance from researchers at the University of Washington.
WSDA stated that the help of the public in Washington and Canada to help spot wasps is essential to stop this pest.
The Asian hornet is the largest hornet species in the world. The first sighting occurred in December 2019 in northwestern Washington State, USA. As we all know, bumblebees will attack and destroy the hives of bees in the “slaughter stage”, at this stage they kill the bees by decapitation. A small group of Asian hornets can kill an entire bee hive within a few hours.
In June, a dead bumblebee was reported near Marysville in Snohomish County, Washington, but WSDA believes it was an old male bumblebee from the previous season.
WSDA has one Dedicated page Used to report bumblebee sightings.
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