Northern giant hornets not yet eradicated in Washington, but state happy with 2022

With no new confirmed detections of northern giant hornets in Washington state or British Columbia for 2022, the invasive species has not yet been eradicated, but it is a strong step in the right direction, according to a Department of Agriculture press conference Wednesday, Dec. 7.

“This is really good news for everyone,” Sven Spichiger, Washington State Department of Agriculture managing entomologist, said of the so-called “murder hornets.”

“We have to complete three seasons of negative survey for regulatory services before we would declare this eradicated, but this is year one with no detections. We are just pleased as you can possibly be.”

This is the third year the hornets have not been found in the Bellingham grid area, and Spichiger said the agency will likely be dropping the gird at the end of the year. A grid is used to divide an area into 1-kilometer squares, with the goal to place one trap per grid area. The Department of Agriculture will continue to set traps and search for hornets in the northern area of Whatcom County.

Japanese beetles and spongy moths are other invasive species that have been found in Washington state over the last few years.

In Yakima County, trappers caught more than 23,000 Japanese beetles in 2022, a slight decrease from 2021, according to the department. This is also good news because trapping efforts in the area had increased, and it shows the population had not doubled in size, Spichiger said. Containing the beetles is going to take work over the next few years, he said.

Spongy moths have been found across Washington, including two in Bellingham in August. Thirty moths have been detected around the state, an increase of six from 2021. While precision trapping is being used, the number of moths in the state is not at the level that requires intense treatment, Spichiger said.