An invasive hornet that hunts honeybees is spotted in the U.S. for the first time
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Agriculture officials are raising the alarm after an invasive yellow-legged hornet was seen near Savannah, Ga. The insects are devastatingly effective at preying on honeybees and other pollinators.
"This is the first time a live specimen of this species has been detected in the open United States," the Georgia Department of Agriculture said , after confirming the insect's presence with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Georgia.
The yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina, is native to Southeast Asia. It's a close cousin of the northern giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia , also known as the Asian giant hornet — or, more frighteningly, "murder hornet," for the deadly and violent havoc it wreaks on bee colonies.
The hornet is a threat to honey producers and farmers
The yellow-legged hornet poses a threat not only to honey producers but also to the farming industry. Honey bees play important roles in producing a number of crops, such as almonds, cherries, oranges and other fruits.
Noting agriculture's importance as Georgia's largest industry, the state agency says, "it is imperative that these invasive pests are tracked and eradicated."
Bee pollination adds some $15 billion to crops' value, the Food and Drug Administration said in 2018.
"About one-third of the food eaten by Americans comes from crops pollinated by honey bees, including apples, melons, cranberries, pumpkins, squash, broccoli, and almonds," the agency said.
The Georgia agriculture agency says it's working with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the University of Georgia to trap, track and eradicate the new threat to pollinators.
The newly spotted hornet can be identified by its yellow-tipped legs and dark abdomen, which has yellow bands that widen toward the insect's rear. Georgia officials are asking the public to report possible sightings .
These are not the wasps you're looking for
"Vespa are known as the 'true hornets' and are exceptional predators," according to Clemson University's Land-Grant Press , referring to the genus that includes both the yellow-legged hornet and the northern giant hornet.
They're distinct from North America's wasps. While common U.S. insects such as yellowjackets and the bald-faced hornet are sometimes called hornets, they're not in the same genus as the Asian hornets. Crucially, those homegrown bugs don't wage gruesome warfare on bee colonies.
"This species happens to prefer honey bees," experts from the University of Florida's extension service said of yellow-legged hornets.
The two invasive hornet species pose a number of problems for bees, particularly North American and European populations that haven't evolved alongside the predators. They're bigger and stronger than honey bees, and they have a thick exoskeleton that protects them from stings. They're also social insects, with their own nests — and when they find a food source like a bee hive, they use pheromones to call other hornets to join the feast.
"Most hornets prey on other insects' larvae, and many species of hornets target nests of other social bees and wasps," the Land-Grant Press says, adding that after killing the worker bees defending a hive, the hornets move on to collect bee larvae.
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Poor Georgia, first came Trump's horde of invasive apparatchiks and now these fellas.
Oh, my!
Another day, another sick joke from our northern neighbor.
My apologies, I have been lead astray into thinking my southern cousins had thicker skin.
No, just better class./s
Most gqp/republicans/CONServatives have WLB syndrome.
The former 'president' supporters/enablers/defendersoftheindefensible suffer from the WLB syndrome
what's the latin translation for turd polishers?
I'm scared to death of stinging insects, especially wasps and hornets.
As a gal I used to work with said, and I agree wholeheartedly 'they rule the world'
I wouldn't smoke on my deck (quit in 2018) in the summer because of them, there was no way to escape them and I could see myself plummeting off my deck three floors below because of my fear of them!
The only thing I truly detest is scorpions. That's the only thing with a stinger that I will run from or if I'm cornered smash it to a pulp
Recently there was a hornet or a wasp IN MY HOUSE between the curtain and the window and I smashed that mo fo to a pulp.
If they're in my home, it's them or me.
it was always fun to wake up to blood curdling screams whenever an insect invaded our home when I was married, or when my sons explored the popular myth of the only way to kill a black widow was to douse it in gasoline and ignite it in my window wells...
Unlike the time my X sat down on the toilet and a rat tried to crawl to safety between her legs.
Other than the fear of wasps and hornets, I like to think I'm a pretty tough chick.
I can just hear your ex now.
lol
Experienced colony collapse a few years ago. Replaced everything and it happened again.
Thinking Varroa mites or farmer spread neonicotinoids. Sadly, gave up apiculture.
My father once owned a Hudson Hornet. It was a honey of a car.
This is awful
The humor or the wasps?
the wasps
I like to pretend I have a sense of humor
The humor though I agree that the infestation of the wasps is horrible.
Aa sense of humor is the only thing that keeps me from going postal.
I take that back - Hallux is hilarious - I was thinking about Greg - he's hilarious though in a different way, LOL.
Same here cj - I'd rather laugh than cry.
... and weed, otherwise my picture would be in every post office.
that too - I'm going to go to a local dispensary for the first time tomorrow - legal as of July 1st
the first time I ever went inside one, it was like stepping inside a high school fantasy...
Other invasive species --
President Biden has just declared the hornets to be a threat to America's national security and has banned them. He is forming a "QUAD" group with the Bahamas, Monaco and Liechtenstein to "contain" them and is threatening both Canada and Mexico to not let the hornets enter their space or he will sanction them. s/
Did he say if he would send a F-22 Raptor and shoot them down with Sidewinder missiles like he did that balloon?
Yes, when he thought they would spy on the USA and transmit secrets up to a satellite. s/
Lol!😆