Invasive hornets


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Report Northern Giant Hornet sighting

Click the button below to report Northern giant hornet sightings in Washington state. If the suspected sighting is not in Washington, contact your state or province's agriculture department to report the pest.

What's New

The Citizen Scientist Trapping program is over for the year and the evaluation is available! Please take a few minutes to answer short the survey, even if you trapped part of the season. Take the survey here
Trappers will remove more than 800 WSDA northern giant hornet traps they set and have been monitoring since July. Read the full news release here.
In August 2023, the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) detected a yellow-legged hornet. GDA is asking Georgians to report sightings of the yellow-legged hornet. Learn more and report online by visiting GDA’s webpage.
The Entomological Society of America has established "northern giant hornet" as the official common name for Vespa mandarinia - previously known in the United States as Asian giant hornet or murder hornet. We will be updating our webpages and publications in the comming weeks to reflect this change. 
A study was recently published detailing information found in the four hornet nests discovered in Washington. You can read the article here.

Northern Giant Hornet

This invasive hornet (Vespa mandarinia) is the world's largest species of hornet.

​In December 2019, WSDA received and verified two reports of the hornet near Blaine. These are the first-ever sighting in the United States. Canada had also discovered the hornets in two locations in British Columbia in the fall of 2019. 

In 2020 and 2021, both Washington and Canada have had new confirmed sightings of the hornets. As of the end of 2021, WSDA had located and eradicated four Northern giant hornet nests in Whatcom County. In 2022, no hornets were detected.
 


Northern giant hornet attacks and destroys honey bee hives. A few hornets can destroy a hive in a matter of hours. The hornets can enter a "slaughter phase" where they kill entire hives by decapitating the bees. The hornets then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young. They also attack other insects but are not known to destroy entire colonies of those insects. 

While they do not generally attack people or pets, they can attack when threatened. Their stinger is longer than that of a honey bee and their venom is more toxic. They can also sting repeatedly. 

If it becomes established, this hornet will have negative impacts on the environment, economy, and public health of Washington State.
Learn about our community science programs including public trapping.
Find northern giant hornet detections, trapping, and eradication information.
Find identification resources, guides, and more.

How to Report A Sighting

If you see an northern giant hornet or have seen evidence of a hive attack, please report it! There are several ways to report suspected sightings in Washington State:  Here is what to include with your report, if possible: 
  • Your name and contact information
  • The location of the sighting/attack
  • Date of sighting/attack
  • Photograph of the hornet or damage (we generally cannot confirm a report without a photo or specimen)
  • If no photo, include a description of the size of the insect, color of the head and body, and what it was doing
  • Description of the hive loss/damage (if no photo is available) 
  • Direction the hornet(s) flew when flying away
If the suspected sighting is NOT in Washington State, please submit the report to your state or province's apiary inspector. 

Report northern giant hornet sightings

Click here to go directly to WSDA's Hornet Watch Report Form to report northern giant hornet sightings in Washington State ONLY.

Hornet Videos

TVW did a short documentary about the northern giant hornet in the Pacific Northwest which you can watch below.



Here is a video of northern giant hornets attacking European honey bees in Japan. Video credit: Fumihiko Hirai

 

Additional resources

Click the button below for additional resources on northern giant hornet

 

Stay informed

Want to stay informed about WSDA's northern giant hornet project? Sign up for email updates or join our Facebook group.

More information

Still can't find the answers to your questions? You can contact us using the email and phone number below. 

hornets@agr.wa.gov
1-800-443-6684 (You will get a quicker response by sending an email.)