Asian Giant Hornet in Snohomish County Pt 1
I’m Bob Larson. The first Asian Giant Hornet has been found in Washington state OUTSIDE of Whatcom County.
The discovery in Snohomish County was confirmed yesterday by Washington Department of Agriculture Entomologist Sven Sphichiger (SPEE-shigger) …
SPICHIGER … “First and foremost, it was detected laying in a lawn on June 4th and that was a late Friday afternoon detection. And, we received that report morning. And, Dr. Chris Looney was able to go out and investigate on the 8th and was able to obtain the specimen.”
And upon initial inspection, Spichiger says it did appeared to be an Asian Giant Hornet and a male …
SPICHIGER … “But it was a little unusual. It was a different color form. By that, what I mean is it still has the large orange, yellow head and the last segment of the abdomen, or the back half of the insect, is of course still yellow. But, all the rest of the segments do not contain the orange, yellow stipes that we’re accustom to seeing on the ones we found previously.”
But, Spichiger says after a complete, 3-step verification process …
SPICHIGER ... “At that time, it was determined to Vespa Mandarinia, which of course is Asian Giant Hornet.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on this latest Asian Giant Hornet discovery in Snohomish County and why it may be a new variety.
