- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Remember the massive media frenzy earlier this year when "the murder hornet" became a household word? The media labeled it that, but let's call it AGH. It's a hornet, not some weaponized insect with super powers that belongs in a B-rated movie seen at a Saturday matinee. Drop the drink! Hold the popcorn!
The peer-reviewed publication is the work of two former UC Davis entomologists now with WSU: honey bee geneticist-researcher Susan Cobey, research associate, Department of Entomology, and Timothy Lawrence, associate professor and Island County Extension director (they are a husband-wife team), along with Michael Jensen, associate professor and Pend Oreille County Extension director.
The first four paragraphs zero in on what this is all about:
"The Asian giant hornet (AGH) or Japanese giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, recently found in British Columbia, Canada, (B. C. Ministry of Agriculture 2019) and in Washington State (McGann 2019), poses a significant threat to European honey bee (EHB), Apis mellifera, colonies and is a public health issue. The AGH is the world's largest species of hornet (Figure 1; Ono et al. 2003), native to temperate and tropical low mountains and forests of eastern Asia (Matsuura 1991). It appears the hornet is well adapted to conditions in the Pacific Northwest.
"If this hornet becomes established, it will have a severe and damaging impact on the honey bee population, the beekeeping industry, the environment, public health, and the economy. It is critical that we identify, trap, and attempt to eliminate this new pest before it becomes established and widespread. Attempts to contain the spread and eradication of this invasive insect will be most effective by trapping queens during early spring before their nests become established. Another strategy is to locate and destroy nests prior to development of virgin queens and drones in the late summer and fall.
"It is critical that surveying and trapping occur before the fall reproductive and dispersal phase of the hornet. Beekeepers in the field are a crucial line of defense in locating, identifying, and trapping the hornets. Yet, everyone should be on the lookout and report any sightings to local authorities and the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
"Here, we will cover how the AGH will impact the honey bee, give the reader a better understanding of the hornet, outline precautions to take, and first aid if attacked by the hornet."
The fact sheet provides crucial information, including what the public and beekeepers need to know, how to trap the hornets, where to report sightings, and information about the life cycle, the stinger, avoidance, and first aid. It details the public health issue and defines "What is a hornet?"
We've heard folks argue that AGH is a "hornet, not a wasp." Noted hymenopterist Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at UC Davis, points out that hornets ARE wasps.
WSU Extension defines a hornet this way:
"A hornet is simply a large wasp. Generally, wasps of the class or genus known as Vespa are considered hornets. Interestingly, there are no true hornets (Vespa) native to North America. The European hornet (Vespa crabro) is well established in much of the eastern half of the United States. The European hornet is not a major threat to honey bees."
"Hornets are part of a large order of insects known as Hymenoptera that include bees, wasps, ants, and sawflies. Worldwide, there are more than 115,000 species belonging to the order Hymenoptera (Hunt and Toth 2017). Most of this group of insects are beneficial for pollination and pest control. There are two types of hornets, solitary and social (Lee et al. 2016). Solitary hornets hunt various insects and spiders. Their 'stinger' is primarily used to paralyze their prey. They often lay an egg on the immobilized victim, and when the egg hatches, the larvae consume the still-living host. Solitary wasps generally do not sting humans and usually are not aggressive unless provoked."
"Social wasps, on the other hand, do use their stingers to defend their nests and can be very aggressive and will readily sting. The most common social wasp in the United States is the yellowjacket. The four most common yellowjacket species in Washington are the western yellowjacket (Paravespula pensylvanica), the common yellowjacket (Paravespula vulgaris), the aerial yellowjacket (Dolichovespula arenaria), and the German yellowjacket (Paravespula germanica) (Berry and Mooney 1998; Landolt and Antonelli 2003)."
"The recently introduced Asian giant hornet (AGH) is also a social wasp. When foraging for food in spring, the AGH ;is not highly aggressive—unless its nest is disturbed. Late summer and fall, with the high demand for protein, they become very aggressive when attacking or occupying a honey bee colony."
AGH appeared in the news last month when the Washington State Department of Agriculture announced it had trapped aVespa mandarinia near Birch Bay in Whatcom County. It was trapped July 14 and identified during processing on July 29. "This was the first hornet to be detected in a trap, rather than found in the environment as the state's five previous confirmed sightings were," according to the news release.
"Because the number of Asian giant hornet workers increases as a colony develops, residents should be most likely to see an Asian giant hornet in August and September," the news release related. "If you think you have seen one, report it at agr.wa.gov/hornets. Provide as much detail as you can about what you saw and where. Also, include a photo if you can safely obtain one, and if you come across a dead specimen keep it for potential testing. You can visit WSDA's website at agr.wa.gov/hornets to learn more about Asian giant hornets. You can also submit questions the WSDA Pest Program at hornets@agr.wa.gov or 1-800-443-6684."
At least we never saw a 64-point bold, all-capped, World War II-sized newspaper headline that screamed "MURDER HORNET TRAPPED!"
But some of the misidentifications of Vespa mandarinia flowing in are incredible. Check out Stephane de Greef's Facebook page on "Is This a Murder Hornet?" The latest one spotlighted is a...wait for it...beetle.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Which one is the most popular? Initially, it was the tropical milkweed, A. curassavica. We collected the first five caterpillars there. The A. fascicularis yielded the rest.
So, the count: narrowleaf milkweed, 11; tropical, 5; and showy, a no-show.
To date this year, we have released six monarchs back into the garden. The others went for university research. Elizabeth Pringle's laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno, needed male and female monarchs to rear a colony, and the UC Davis laboratory of Louie Yang needed some tachinid flies.
Unfortunately for us--and fortunately for the Yang lab--tachinid flies infested two of our "11-piece collection." The adult flies are parasitoids that lay their eggs in immature monarchs (among other hosts). The fly larvae hatch and eat their host from the inside out. In a chrysalid, you can tell a tachnid fly infestation by the large tell-tale "dented" brown spot, it looks somewhat like a rotten spot on an apple. In a caterpillar? Think withered and discolored. Then a bungee-like white string appears, and the larvae (maggots) slide down--probably gleefully--like a kid on a Goliath Slide at the county fair.
Tachinids, however, are considered beneficial insects. They lay their eggs in or on such pests as cabbage loopers, cutworms, cabbage worms, gypsy moths, hornworms, harlequin bugs, lygus bugs, cucumber beetles, earwigs and the like. (See Bug Squad blog for close-up images of the tachinid larvae and pupae.)
2016: A Very Good Monarch Year
The year 2016 was a very good year for monarchs in our pollinator garden; we reared and released 60-plus. Sadly, the numbers fell drastically in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Last year, no eggs, no caterpillars and no chrysalids, and only a few monarchs passed through. In fact, in 2019 we did not see our first monarch until Aug. 9.
This year we're noticing a comeback of sorts. We spotted the first monarch on May 24. We now see:
- Males patrolling our yard and chasing the females--morning, noon and evening
- Females laying their eggs on the narrowleaf milkweed that's beneath the honeysuckle vine or the tropical milkweed that's beneath the roses
- Both males and females nectaring on milkweed, butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii), and Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia), napping in the branches of the cherry laurels, and greeting any guests with flutter fanfare.
Life is good.
Sometimes the Gulf Fritillaries, Agraulis vanillae, that are hanging out on their host plant, the passionflower vine, mistake them for one of their own species and a pursuit begins.
Yes, the predators are out there: the California scrub jays, praying mantids, spiders, European paper wasps and yellow jackets. So are the tachinid flies and parasitoid wasps.
Would it be too much to ask them to...um....leave our monarchs alone? Yes.
Everybody eats in the garden. The menu choice is theirs.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Heads will not roll.
The Hunger Games will not begin.
Preying does not always work.
It's Aug. 2, 2020 and a praying mantis decides to occupy a specially stunning Mexican sunflower. Specifically, it's a female Stagmomantis limbata occupying a Tithonia rotundifolia.
It's a brilliant day, the kind of day that makes you love the world and everything in it. You know those kinds of days? No? Thought not. Me, neither.
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, lands on the Orange Blossom Special—no connection to the deluxe-passenger train that Johnny Cash made famous, the train that links New York City to Miami.
Ah, but it's a brilliant day, yes, indeed.
Ms. Honey Bee begins sipping nectar to share with her colony.
Ms. Mantis has no intention of sharing anything.
Ms. Mantis: “Well, hello there, Ms. Honey Bee! You are looking quite delicious today!”
Ms. Honey Bee: “Excuse me? Oh, yes, this nectar is delicious. Try some!”
Ms. Mantis: “No, thanks, I am a carnivore.”
Ms. Honey Bee: “Well, I'm a vegetarian!”
Ms. Mantis: “Well, I can bite your head off.”
Ms. Honey Bee: “That would not be a nice thing to do. Where are your manners?”
Ms. Mantis: “Manners? Do you think I'm Ms. Manners? I'm Ms. Mantis not Ms. Manners.”
Ms. Honey Bee: “Well, just telling you that I'm a vegetarian.”
Ms. Mantis: “I eat vegetarians.”
Ms. Honey Bee: "Not today!" Abruptly, she takes flight, buzzing off faster than Johnny Cash can mimic the "choo choo" of the Orange Blossom Special.
Conclusions? There are three:
- Heads do not always roll when a flower is double-occupied by a praying mantis and a honey bee.
- The Hunger Games do not always begin.
- Preying does not always work.
(Editor's Note: No organisms were injured in the making of these photographs. The mantis wanted to, though!)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
But to entomologists, "The Beatles," means "The Beetles." You know, the ones with six legs and two antennae? A body comprised of a head, thorax, and abdomen?
Ah, yes.
We were delighted to see the National Public Radio (NPR) showcase insects on its Aug. 1st program, "Beetles Dominate As Scientists Discover New Animal Species."
"Beetles make up around 40% of all insect species ever described and around 25% of all animals," NPR teased. "Are there really that many different kinds of beetles, or do scientists have a strong pro-beetle bias?"
NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyd interviewed Rachel Smith, the undergraduate student at the University of Kansas who discovered 18 species of water beetles when she was handed 2000 specimens to sort.
Are there really more beetles (Order Coleoptera) than any other insects? Yes.
Greenfieldboyd interviewed Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and Nematology and professor of entomology at UC Davis, and UC Davis alumnus Andrew Forbes, now an associate professor at the University of Iowa. Kimsey specializes in the Order Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and sawflies) and Forbes specializes in parasitic wasps.
They both agreed that beetle outnumber all other insects on earth.
"Collecting beetles was a hobby in the 1800s," Forbes told Greenfieldboyce. "People would go out and collect as many beetles as they could and then, you know, get together and compare the size of their beetle collections."
"So you have to figure that for every species of beetle, there are probably at least one or two wasp parasites or parasitoids," Kimsey said.
Indeed, we live on the "Planet of Insects," as natural history expert Jules Howard says in his newly published Encylopedia of Insects (Wide Eyed Editions, with Illustrations by Miranda Zimmerman), aimed for children, but meant to enthrall all ages.
"If aliens were to visit our planet and make a list of all of Earth's animals, they would quickly see a pattern," Howard wrote. "Nearly every single one of this planet's creatures they would notice, are from one strange group that has six legs, three segments to their body, and often, a pair of wings. We call these organisms the insects. Because the insect group accounts for 90 percent of life forms on this plant, alien visitors would be correct in calling this Planet of Insects. Truly, this is an insect world. You and I just happen to live on it."
Howard wants to share his love of insects with his bug-o-pedia book. He wants to inspire you. "To come to know them. To know their names. To shout from the rooftops about how amazing they are."
His message is important. insects aren't "creepy crawlers" or something abominable, scary or freaky. This planet--the Planet of Insects--is theirs, as Howard says. "You and I just happen to live on it."
With The Beetles.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Just when folks were beginning to think "it may be over and done" regarding Asian giant hornet sightings, it's not.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has just trapped its first Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, which the news media dubbed "the murder hornet." (It's a name that makes entomologists cringe.)
In a news release published July 31, officials announced that they found a hornet in a WSDA trap set near Birch Bay in Whatcom County. "WSDA trappers checked the bottle trap on July 14 and submitted the contents for processing at WSDA's entomology lab. The hornet was identified during processing on July 29. This was the first hornet to be detected in a trap, rather than found in the environment as the state's five previous confirmed sightings were."
Sven Spichiger, managing entomologist for the department, said: “This is encouraging because it means we know that the traps work. But it also means we have work to do."
So WSDA will now use infrared cameras and place additional traps in the area. These are special traps to catch them alive. From the press release: "If they catch live hornets, the department will attempt to tag and track them back to their colony. Once located, the agency will eradicate the colony."
"WSDA hopes to find and destroy the nest by mid-September before the colony would begin creating new reproducing queens and drones. Until that time, the colony will only contain the queen and worker Asian giant hornets. Destroying the nest before new queens emerge and mate will prevent the spread of this invasive pest."
All in all, WSDA, citizen scientists and others have set out more than 1300 traps in Washington state.
"Those interested in trapping can still build and set traps on their own property," according to the news release. "Traps require weekly bait replacement and a commitment to mail the trap contents to WSDA if bees or wasps are collected. If a citizen scientist traps a live Asian giant hornet, they should call the WSDA Pest Program hotline at 1-800-443-6684."
"Because the number of Asian giant hornet workers increases as a colony develops, residents should be most likely to see an Asian giant hornet in August and September. If you think you have seen one, report it at agr.wa.gov/hornets. Provide as much detail as you can about what you saw and where. Also, include a photo if you can safely obtain one, and if you come across a dead specimen keep it for potential testing."
Noted hymenopterist Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at UC Davis, has been following the confirmed and unconfirmed sightings and recently talked about the Asian giant hornets on a podcast with urban entomologist Michael Bentley on his BugBytes podcast. Click here to listen.
Bentley serves as the director of training and education for the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), headquartered in Fairfax, Va., and hosts NPMA's BugBytes. Kimsey, a global authority on wasps, bees and other insects, is a two-term past president of the International Society of Hymenopterists.
They talked about the history of the hornet, its biology, its range, its behavior, its stings, and the news media frenzy.
What was known then: two incidents occurred in North America last year. A single colony of the Asian giant hornet was found and destroyed Sept. 18, 2019 in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Canada, and a single dead hornet was found Dec. 8, 2019 in nearby Blaine, Wash. Kimsey says they probably hitchhiked on a cargo ship,
Asian giant hornets, originating from Asia, can decimate a honey bee colony, and the Washington beekeeping industry is concerned that these invasive pests may become established here.
Meanwhile, many so-called "murder hornets" have turned out to be yellow jackets, European paper wasps, hover flies, hoverflies, moths, circadas and even a Jerusalem cricket (potato bug). Stephane De Greef, a Belgium-born entomology advocate, traveler, field guide, and photographer, earlier called the frenzy "a bloody dumpster fire." He launched a fun (and informative) Facebook page, Is This a Murder Hornet?" In a Facebook comment today, he pointed out that the findings are all within a 10-mile radius (see the map he posted below).
More information:
- Visit the WSDA website at agr.wa.gov/hornets to learn more about Asian giant hornets.
- Submit questions to the WSDA Pest Program at hornets@agr.wa.gov or 1-800-443-6684.
- View the WSDA press conference on YouTube.
