A yellow-legged hornet has been found in the US for the first time, prompting concerns among experts about the agricultural threat the invasive Asian species poses, not least to honeybees and other pollinators.
The Georgia department of agriculture (GDA) said a beekeeper in Savannah spotted the insect on his property and reported it to authorities. It was subsequently confirmed as a yellow-legged hornet.
A social wasp species native to tropical and subtropical areas of south-east Asia, the hornet is established in most of Europe, parts of the Middle East and other areas of Asia where it is not native. But the sighting in Georgia was the first detection of a live yellow-legged hornet in the open US, authorities said.
The insect, which as an adult reaches approximately 22mm, builds egg-shaped paper nests above ground, often in trees, that house about 6,000 workers. The hornets can be identified by a yellow stripe on the fourth abdominal segment as well as the bright yellow found on the bottom half of the legs.
According to experts, the predatory wasp feeds on arthropods and decaying animals but prefers honeybees, the European honeybee a particular target.
Authorities urged Georgia residents to report sightings of yellow-legged hornets, which “if allowed to establish … could potentially threaten honey production, native pollinators and our state’s number one industry – agriculture”.
Residents were asked to note the location and date of a sighting, any possible photographs, the location and approximate height of any nests, and to provide descriptions of loss and damage and the direction the hornet went when flying away.
“Georgians play an important role helping GDA identify unwanted, non-native pests, and I want to thank the beekeeper who reported his sighting to us, as well as our partners at the University of Georgia and [the US Department of Agriculture’s] Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (Aphis) for working swiftly to confirm its identity,” the state’s agriculture commissioner, Tyler Harper, said in a statement.
“Our experienced team of professionals will continue to assess the situation and are working directly with [the US Department of Agriculture], Aphis and UGA to trap, track, and eradicate the yellow-legged hornet in Georgia.”
