Now they’re murdered hornets.
The world’s largest hornet dubbed the “murder hornet” has officially been eradicated from the US, according to officials.
The northern giant hornet burrowed into Washington state near the Canadian border back in 2019 and gained notoriety for their shockingly large size and their propensity for destroying the hives of docile honey bees and other pollinators.
They attached a tiny radio device to one hornet, tracking the signal back to its home, and then destroyed the nest and the pests within, according to the report.
Scientists say they were able to wipe out one such hive just as several queen hornets were about to emerge, likely going on to form new hives, officials said.
“I’ve gotta tell you, as an entomologist — I’ve been doing this for over 25 years now, and it is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects,” Sven Spichiger of the pest program at the Washington State Department of Agriculture said in a virtual news conference, the AP reports.
In North America, they first appeared in 2019, being seen in British Columbia in August of that year, and in Washington state in December, the report says.
DNA analysis shows that the specimens found in British Columbia and Washington had different origins.
Washington is the only state in the union that has ever confirmed reports of murder hornets.
