Yellow-legged hornets are cousins to murder hornets

The yellow legged hornet is not in Virginia at thsi time.Photo byWikipedia

Hornets in Virginia

In 2020, there were reports of dangerous giant Hornets in Virginia, but WSLS 10 said these were not murder hornets. Also known as Asian Giant Hornets, the Virginia Tech Department of Entomology confirmed that these invasive insects were not invading the Commonwealth.

In 2022, Newsweek said there were no reports of the murder hornets anywhere in the US and suggested they had been eradicated. However, a deadly hornet on the East Coast this year is a cousin to the Asian, AKA murder Hornet.

Ars Technica reported in May that the invasive yellow-legged hornet AKA Asian predatory wasp kills honey bees and bumblebees and has been spotted in Georgia. This hornet is not an insect native to Virginia, but that does not indicate it can't eventually make its way here.