Michael Skvarla says the emails have been coming in fast and furious with questions about a newly infamous type of wasp, and they all have “murder hornet” in the subject line.
“Why my inbox is blowing up now is because of The New York Times story that called them murder hornets and that got people worried,” said Skvarla, a Ph.D. arthropod researcher with the Penn State Extension.
Skvarla is the author of a super-detailed look at the creatures, actually known as Asian giant hornets (Vespa mandarin), in a Penn State Extension publication. Murder hornets, coined last Saturday by The New York Times, is a name loathed by entomologists.
“They are not ‘murder hornets.’ They are just hornets,” said Washington Agriculture Department entomologist Chris Looney.
“This is 99% media hype and frankly I’m getting tired of it,” said University of Delaware entomologist Doug Tallamy. “Murder hornet? Please.”
They are, in fact, murderous -- especially to honeybees, and in gruesome fashion: "Because the hornets are targeting bees for protein, they only utilize the muscle-rich bee thorax and discard the head, abdomen, and legs," Skvarla writes. "After the bee is killed, the hornet prepares the thorax into a 'meat ball,' which is carried back to the nest."
The hornets can even enter a state known as the "slaughter phase" in which 20 to 30 of them can kill anywhere between 5,000 and 25,000 honeybees in a few hours.
Menacingly, they’re the largest wasps in the world, with the queens of the Asian giant hornets growing as long as 2 inches or more, with a wingspan of 3 inches, Skvarla says. The male workers can grow to 1 1/2 inches long, similar in size to wasps established in Pennsylvania that may be confused with the Asian giant hornets.
The good news is the Asian giant hornet, a non-native species in the United States, is not found in Pennsylvania or the Northeast in general.
A dead Asian giant hornet is seen Dec. 30, 2019, in a lab in Olympia, Washington. It is the world's largest hornet, a 2-inch long killer with an appetite for honey bees. Dubbed the "murder hornet" by some, the insect has a sting that could be fatal to some humans.Quinlyn Baine/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP
The Asian giant hornet was sighted for the first time in the United States last December, when the Washington State Department of Agriculture verified two reports near Blaine, Washington, close to the Canadian border. It also received two probable, but unconfirmed reports from sites in Custer, Washington, south of Blaine.
The hornet can sting through most beekeeper suits, deliver nearly seven times the amount of venom as a honey bee, and sting multiple times, the department said, adding that it ordered special reinforced suits from China.
Worldwide, they have been reported to kill 50 people a year due to sting-induced allergic reactions and, more rarely, multiple organ failure due to a large number of stings, according to Skvarla. For perspective, an average of 62 people in the U.S. alone are killed every year by bees and lesser wasps, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The business end -- for humans at least -- of a dead Asian giant hornet is seen Dec. 30, 2019, in a lab in Olympia, Washington.Quinlyn Baine/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP
There is the chance the Asian giant hornet could establish a nest in the Northeast if it were to arrive on a shipment from its native Asia, Skvarla said. That’s in all likelihood how they got to the Pacific Northwest, and how America has gotten its share of other non-native, invasive pests like the spotted lanternfly, brown marmorated stink bug and emerald ash borer -- all of which are found in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding region.
Only the queen of an Asian giant hornet overwinters to reproduce the following year, so it’s extremely unlikely the populations confirmed in the United States will spread east by themselves.
Which brings us to what to do IF you encounter an Asian giant hornet. First, the Penn State Extension wants to know about it, and offers instructions on its website for insect identification and mitigating infestations.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also offers instructions on Asian giant hornet survey, eradication and control options, including ways in which beekeepers in Asia protect their honeybees from attack, Skvarla says.
The species found in Pennsylvania that the Asian giant hornet resembles include the native cicada killer wasp, which is deadly -- as its name suggests -- to cicadas like the annual species that emerges each summer. The female may sting a human, but only if they’re really being harassed, Skvarla said. The European hornet, found in America since the 1800s, is the other species the Asian giant hornet resembles and will also sting if provoked.
Both the Asian giant hornet and cicada killer wasps make their nests in the ground, while the European hornet makes its nest 30-40 feet up in tree hollows.
“The one thing interesting about European hornets is they’re the only nocturnal hornet species,” Skvarla said.
Cue the headlines: Nighttime marauders drawn to your porch light pack stingers!
Seriously, though, as Skvarla writes: “As far as any entomologist in the United States can tell, ‘murder hornet’ was not used in English prior to the (New York Times) article. Therefore, it is not recommended to refer to V. mandarinia as ‘murder hornets.’”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.