Could murder hornets make it to Lexington? Traps will be set out soon, KY official says

It’s unlikely Asian giant hornets will make their way from Washington to Kentucky, but state officials will be prepared either way.

Three traps likely will be set next week in Lexington for the 2-inch long insects, also known as murder hornets, according to Kentucky state apiarist Tammy Potter.

Asian giants are the world-largest species of hornets and were first spotted in Washington in December, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Though they do not often attack people, they can when they are threatened, WSDA stated.

The Lexington traps also were set last year, helping Potter add 30 bee species to Kentucky’s native bee list.

Kentucky is a part of a federal grant with 10 other states called the Native Bee and Wasp Survey, Potter said. Through the grant, apiarists set traps to better identify the bees in their areas. Potter said she joined the grant because of Kentucky’s “extensive international agriculture ties in the equine and bourbon industries,” as it is possible invasive species such as the murder hornets could travel in horse bedding or bourbon barrels.

“In some cases, there is a mode of transportation called ‘shirtpocket information,’ although the Asian Giant Hornet is so defensive it is impossible to imagine anyone just wanting to bring that from Asia to North America that way,” she said. “I volunteered to join the Native Bee and Wasp grant to know where the Asian Giant Hornet is not and also because I thought our state knows very little about its native bees.”

Potter said there is no evidence the Asian giants have made their way to Kentucky.

The traps were intended to be set out this week, but because of the colder weather, Potter will wait a week. She said they will be set on the University of Kentucky Research Farm, Columbia Gas land on Mercer Road because of its location next to Amazon and UPS fulfillment centers, as well as on her family’s farm in northern Fayette County.

The Asian Giant Hornet trap is nothing special, according to Potter. “Nothing more than brown sugar and water,” she said. Potter will collect the specimens in the traps every two weeks and send them for identification.

It’s unlikely these type of hornets are in Kentucky, said Jonathan Larsen, a UK entomologist in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

“So far, there have been no findings in North America outside of the Pacific Northwest, but we do have some similar looking insects in Kentucky that could cause people to think they have seen one,” Larsen said in a UK news release.

The European hornet, cicada killer and bald-faced hornet are some insects similar in size to the so-called murder hornets, but Larsen pointed out ways to differentiate them from the ones found in Washington.

“The European hornet is more of a red-orange color, and the cicada killer will have a smaller head and different shape than the Asian giant hornet,” he said. “Bald-faced hornets are black and white instead of yellow-orange.”

Asian giants are between 1.5 and 2 inches in length, have a large orange-yellow head, a black and yellow striped abdomen and they form “large colonies that usually nest in the ground.” They get their nickname of murder hornets because they prey on honeybees.

Potter said “Washington state is doing everything possible to find and destroy Asian Giant Hornet nests.”