Washington state researchers failed a second time to live-track an Asian giant hornet to its nest in an attempt to eradicate the carnivorous insects.
But Sven Spichiger, an entomologist with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, said the tracking attempt Friday indicated the general location of the hornet’s nest, and he is hopeful trackers will be able to pinpoint it soon.
“We got the direction of flight, and we met with the property owners and got a few more eyewitness accounts,” Spichiger said during a virtual news conference Monday. “We’re starting to narrow down the hornet’s nest in that area. … We’re pretty sure this is going to lead us right to where we need to go.”
Researchers, honeybee producers and others have been on a dogged search for the sizeable insect since the first few were discovered in western Washington last summer.
Asian giant hornets, which originated in Japan, are aggressive insects that can devastate a honeybee hive within hours. It has been dubbed the “murder hornet” because of the savage way it rips off the head of its prey and devours entire colonies.
Experts are not certain how the hornets got to the U.S. Although they are invasive, they are sometimes raised in captivity in Asia where their carcasses are a culinary delicacy, and the venom is used to spike alcoholic drinks.
Authorities have said it’s unlikely Asian giant hornets would turn up in eastern Washington or north central Idaho, because the climate is too different from their native habitat.
Researchers have been attempting to capture a live hornet and fit it with a tracking device that could lead them to a nest so the colony could be eradicated. An earlier attempt to glue a tracking device onto a captured hornet failed when the glue wouldn’t stick.
Spichiger said Monday a female Asian giant hornet was captured east of Blaine, Wash., last week about a mile south of where the first sighting of a hornet was recorded last year.
About the same time, he said, the agriculture department’s counterpart just over the border in Canada also trapped a live hornet.
Researchers attempted to fit the hornet with the tracking device on Oct. 5, but the device had technical problems and did not work.
“We were able to keep the hornet alive by feeding her strawberry jam, and she seemed to like that quite well,” Spichiger said. “This was one feisty, durable specimen, indeed.”
On Oct. 9, researchers tried again. Because the glue in the previous attempt failed to adhere to the hornet’s body, researchers attached the tracking device with dental floss tied around the thin part of the insect’s waist.
“This worked like a charm,” Spichiger said.
The hornet was placed on an elevated platform.
“She cleaned herself a little bit and took off and did a spiraling orientation flight,” Spichiger said. “She went about 40 feet up in the air and then rested on a nearby tree for about five minutes. Then she took flight again and took rest again, this time resting on a patch of heavy vegetation adjacent to a house.
“This was a pretty scary moment for us,” he said. Because the area was covered in thick blackberry vines, it was difficult for trackers to operate.
The hornet remained in the vegetation for about 10 minutes, then emerged and trackers picked up the signal briefly before losing it again in a wooded area.
“Trying to relocate the signal was unsuccessful,” Spichiger said. “I was extremely impressed with how well the technology worked for us. We were able to track (her) resting locations.”
Even though the insect got away, he said trackers now have a good idea of the general direction of a nest and will continue to monitor the area for the next couple of weeks.
This is a critical time to home in on the insects, because it is their breeding season and it is also the time when they become most threatening to honeybee hives.
Vikram Iyer from the University of Washington helped develop the tracking device used on the hornets. Iyer explained that the device has a small battery chip and antenna and works something like a remote key lock for a car.
“It’s the same approach used for wildlife, tracking large animals, only shrunk down to a small size,” he said.
One of the advantages of the technology is that it can be downloaded as an app on cellphones. Several residents who live in the area where the hornet was being followed connected with the signal and were monitoring the hunt as it progressed.
Karla Salp of the agriculture department said this makes 18 confirmed sightings of the Asian giant hornet since it was first spotted in the U.S. last year.
“I am very optimistic that we are really seeing hits in only two or three areas,” Spichiger said. “I was afraid we were focusing on the entire western half of the state. But (the hornets) are concentrated in one area, which does give us a fighting chance.”
Anyone wishing more information about the hornets or to report a possible sighting may visit the website at agr.wa.gov/hornets or email hornets@agr.wa.gov.
Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.
