200 Queens Found in Single 'Murder Hornet' Nest Destroyed by US Authorities

 After months of searching, in October scientists located and destroyed the primary nest of giant 'murder hornets' ever discovered within the US, eradicating a hidden enclave of the invasive insects concealed in an exceeding tree in Washington State, near the Canadian border.

While the invention and elimination of the nest is taken into account a victory by state and federal authorities – who are striving to stop the Asian hornet from establishing a grip in North America – a post-mortem of the hornets' former home provides a sobering perspective on the dimensions of the bug threat we're up against.

After tracking down the nest with an inventive radio tag ploy, entomologists from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) vacuumed dozens of hornets out of the tree within which it had been found, then cut the tree hospitable reveal the nest hidden inside, measuring about 35 centimeters long and 23 centimeters wide (14 by 9 inches).

(WSDA)

That might not sound overlarge, but it seems it's capacious enough to barrack a veritable army of murder hornets, capable of spawning a big wave of subsequent invasion and colonization.

Inside the nest, the researchers tallied 76 adult queens. the majority but one amongst these were likely virgin queens – imminent matriarchs which eventually emerge from the nest, mate, and so leave the world to start out a brand new colony elsewhere after winter has passed.

In addition, 108 capped cells with pupae were found, most of which the entomologists think would even have been virgin queens in development.

(WSDA)

In other words, this one single nest – which took months for authorities to trace down – contained the seeds of around 200 potential new colonies, if nature were to own had its way and scientists hadn't intervened.

"We got there just within the nick of your time," WSDA entomologist Sven-Erik Spichiger told media during a virtual group discussion on the developments.

"When you see … a comparatively small nest like this ready to pump out 200 queens, it does give one a bit little bit of pause."

Beyond the 200 queens, the researchers found 112 workers, nine drones, 190 larvae, and 6 unhatched eggs. All up, about 500 hornets were related to the nest, many of which might are capable of making new nests.

Of course, simply because this particular nest has been controlled, it's possible other nests are already alive, which insects from this nest may have escaped before and through the eradication.

"We believe there are additional nests," Spichiger said. "There is not any thanks to making certain we got all of them."

(WSDA)

While it's unclear how the Asian hornet ought to North America, sightings in both the US and Canada since 2019 have put agricultural authorities on high alert, given the hornet incorporates a tendency to slaughter local bee populations, which is where the 'murder' nickname comes from (it isn't typically aggressive toward humans).

Despite the recent success of the WSDA's eradication, nobody within the entomology community is saying outright victory here.

Even if the stateside presence has been expunged – which is probably unlikely – a spate of sightings over the border in British Columbia in recent weeks suggests the hornet may already be dispersed within the region.

In other words, the battle may well be over, but the war has just begun – and continued vigilance from authorities and native citizens reporting hornet sightings are going to be the most effective chance of winning it. In the meantime, optimism may be a virtue.

"From accounts we've, we're very near having the bulk of them," Spichiger said with respect to the queen bees captured thus far. "But I am unable to offer you an absolute, certainly, that we got every single one from the nest."