First US Sighting of Yellow-Legged Hornet Shows the Invasive Insect Preying on Honey Bees

Hornets can be incredibly scary creatures. Although they look like bees, they aren't always known to be friendly. As such, the yellow-legged hornets were spotted for the first time in the United States.

Yellow-Legged Hornets

The yellow-legged hornets were found in Savannah, Georgia. According to the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA), these invasive insects have been spotted in the US for the first time, with an investigation being launched to find signs of a nest.

Tyler Harper, the agriculture commissioner of Georgia, said that the invasive species could pose a threat to bees and negatively impact the agricultural industry. The particular yellow-legged hornet spotted, the Vespa velutina, is a social wasp species that builds large paper nests capable of containing an average of 6,000 workers.

Oftentimes, the nests of these species are found in trees, and they pose a huge threat to the local ecosystem. This is because they were predators and were very capable of catching honey bees.

The hornets feed on different types of arthropods for protein and are often referred to as opportunistic feeders. In fact, these insects even feed on decaying animals but their most preferred prey remains the Apis mellifera honey bees.

Hornet Risks

Keith Delaplane, the University of Georgia's UGA Honey Bee Program director, said that the hornets feed on insect prey but that they like to focus on honey bees due to them being "easy pickings." Scientists discovered two worker hornets, with experts still looking for their active nest.

Delaplane expressed concerns and highlighted how important it was to trap and eradicate the nests before the next queens were released. So far, the GDA inspectors found hornets close to the Savannah discovery site but were still looking for their nests.

So far, there have been multiple sightings of the hornet in Georgia, but one problem is that they are often mistaken for regular bees. Experts are recommending that people take pictures of the hornets from different angles for them to properly verify the identity of the insect.

Attributes of the Hornets

The lower part of the hornet's legs are color yellow, and they also have a yellow stripe around the fourth segment of their abdomen. These species differ from Asian giant hornets, otherwise known as "murder hornets," but both liked to hunt western honey bees.

Helen Roy, a UK Centre for Ecology and Hydration entomologist and invasive species expert, said that finding the hornet in the United States was concerning due to the threat they pose to honeybees, which play a huge part in agriculture.

However, being able to eradicate the species before they get too comfortable in the US could prevent them from causing serious agricultural damage. Roy also noted that the yellow-legged hornet's nests could be destroyed to avoid the chances of the invasive species from spreading and causing real damage to honey bees and the agricultural sector.

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