'Crispy' Dead Murder Hornet Found in Washington - and Experts Aren't Sure Where It Came From

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Washington State Department of Agriculture The dead murder hornet

The first Asian giant hornet of 2021 has been spotted in Washington state - but scientists aren't sure where the feared insect came from or whether it's from last season.

The dead hornet was first discovered by a resident on June 4 near their home in Marysville, according to a press release from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA).

Entomologists who retrieved the specimen later confirmed that it was an Asian giant hornet, an insect whose potential to poison its victims has earned it the nickname "murder hornet."

Also known as Vespa mandarinia, the 2-inch-long insect kills honey bees by invading their hives and destroying them from the inside out in a matter of hours. In rare instances, the murder hornets can kill humans.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Sven Spichiger, a managing entomologist for the state Department of Agriculture, confirmed that the hornet was male and described it as "dry" and "crispy."

Spichiger also pointed out that the insect was "a little unusual" in its color form because a majority of its body did not contain the "orange-yellow stripes we're accustomed to seeing." The hornet did, however, still have an orange-yellow head and a yellow final segment, he said.

The WSDA believes the specimen may be from a previous season, and wasn't discovered until now because most new males don't emerge until at least July and it was "exceptionally dry."

Spichiger said during the press conference that his "honest opinion is it seemed to have died in a protective place and maybe fallen out and landed on the lawn."

However, those theories are not confirmed and entomologists acknowledged that it is unknown where the hornet is from and how it got to Marysville.

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"The only information we have is that a slightly dried-out dead specimen was collected off a lawn in Marysville," Spichiger said during the conference. "There really isn't enough information to speculate how it got there or how long it had been there... A single, dead specimen does not indicate a population."

"This new report continues to underscore how important public reporting is for all suspected invasive species, but especially Asian giant hornet," he added in the WSDA's press release. "We'll now be setting traps in the area and encouraging citizen scientists to trap in Snohomish and King counties. None of this would have happened without an alert resident taking the time to snap a photo and submit a report."

Filippo Turetta/Wikimedia Asian Giant Hornet

Dr. Osama El-Lissy, the Deputy Administrator for the USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine program, also expressed his shock over the discovery and said the WSDA was continuing to monitor the situation.

"The find is perplexing because it is too early for a male to emerge," El-Lissy said in the WSDA's press release. "Last year, the first males emerged in late July, which was earlier than expected. However, we will work with WSDA to survey the area to verify whether a population exists in Snohomish County."

In May 2020, the WSDA verified that the United States had found its first sighting of the Asian giant hornet in Washington.

The hornet - which is native to temperate and tropical areas such as East Asia, South Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia, and which killed up to 50 people a year in Japan, according to The New York Times - was initially spotted in December after a group of Washington beekeepers discovered hundreds of bees with their heads ripped off.

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Months after the confirmed discovery, the first nest of the Asian giant hornet was found in Blaine, Washington, a city that lies on the U.S.-Canada border.

The WSDA was quick to address the problem, noting that, "If the species manages to establish itself in Washington and surrounding areas, it will create "negative impacts on the environment, economy, and public health."

While the Asian giant hornet does not generally attack people or pets, it can when threatened.

"Their stings are big and painful, with a potent neurotoxin," Seth Truscott, of the college of agricultural, human and natural resource sciences at WSU, previously told WSU Insider. "Multiple stings can kill humans, even if they are not allergic."