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So they really think the infestation is small enough that it's feasible to find and destroy all the nests by hand?

by jessriedel 6y ago

bigbubba 6y ago
Better to be optimistic and try than to surrender to the hornets immediately.
moultano 6y ago
Even if they never eradicate them entirely, destroying their hives whenever they're found can keep them in check.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
freedomben 6y ago
At this point we're super early in the spread, and as far as what I read they think this may be the only one in the US. Worth noting that one nest can create hundreds of new queens that will hibernate the winter and establish a nest in the spring. Not all will survive, but with minimal competition, and significant feeding opportunities from a mostly untapped ecosystem, many will. Destroying one nest to stop exponential growth is a great investment, especially early on. Note: I'm not an expert in this area, I'm mostly parroting stuff I read in other articles.
- jessriedel 6y ago
  This seems like an either-or thing. Either you fully eradicate the species from the area, or they establish a foothold that is infeasible to remove nest-by-nest, and then they grow exponentially.
TomK32 6y ago
I'm more surprised about it being the first nest considering trade across the Pacific is going on for some time now...
acomjean 6y ago
I think they might be able to.. The asian longhorn beetle seems to be in check in the US (though another pest, the emerald ash borer they've given up on controlling). But those are species that don't have centralized nests.. This might be easier if you can trap them and trace them back to their homes..
sethammons 6y ago
Doubt it. I’m two states (about 8 hr drive) in Montana and my wife and I think we saw one. I tried to get a pic but was too slow.
- throwanem 6y ago
  There are a lot of large insects that bear a superficial resemblance to V. mandarinia, especially in the absence of familiarity with hymenopterans. From WSDA's map of citizen sightings, it looks like the most commonly mistaken animals are large sawflies, which are very distant relatives of wasps and hornets and actually serve a significant ecological role by parasitizing the larvae of various tree-boring beetles.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> So they really think the infestation is small enough that it's feasible to find and destroy all the nests by hand? No, they probably think that it is likely that, if that is not the case, it is likely to still be small enough that the progress can be significantly slowed by that means until a more complete solution is found. Given that magnitude matters a lot and that it's a major threat to bee populations and through them much of the agriculture of the country, stalling tactics are a lot better than nothing.

So they really think the infestation is small enough that it's feasible to find and destroy all the nests by hand?

bigbubba 6y ago

Better to be optimistic and try than to surrender to the hornets immediately.

moultano 6y ago

Even if they never eradicate them entirely, destroying their hives whenever they're found can keep them in check.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

freedomben 6y ago

At this point we're super early in the spread, and as far as what I read they think this may be the only one in the US. Worth noting that one nest can create hundreds of new queens that will hibernate the winter and establish a nest in the spring. Not all will survive, but with minimal competition, and significant feeding opportunities from a mostly untapped ecosystem, many will. Destroying one nest to stop exponential growth is a great investment, especially early on. Note: I'm not an expert in this area, I'm mostly parroting stuff I read in other articles.

jessriedel 6y ago
This seems like an either-or thing. Either you fully eradicate the species from the area, or they establish a foothold that is infeasible to remove nest-by-nest, and then they grow exponentially.

TomK32 6y ago

I'm more surprised about it being the first nest considering trade across the Pacific is going on for some time now...

acomjean 6y ago

I think they might be able to.. The asian longhorn beetle seems to be in check in the US (though another pest, the emerald ash borer they've given up on controlling). But those are species that don't have centralized nests.. This might be easier if you can trap them and trace them back to their homes..

sethammons 6y ago

Doubt it. I’m two states (about 8 hr drive) in Montana and my wife and I think we saw one. I tried to get a pic but was too slow.

throwanem 6y ago
There are a lot of large insects that bear a superficial resemblance to V. mandarinia, especially in the absence of familiarity with hymenopterans. From WSDA's map of citizen sightings, it looks like the most commonly mistaken animals are large sawflies, which are very distant relatives of wasps and hornets and actually serve a significant ecological role by parasitizing the larvae of various tree-boring beetles.

dragonwriter 6y ago

> So they really think the infestation is small enough that it's feasible to find and destroy all the nests by hand? No, they probably think that it is likely that, if that is not the case, it is likely to still be small enough that the progress can be significantly slowed by that means until a more complete solution is found. Given that magnitude matters a lot and that it's a major threat to bee populations and through them much of the agriculture of the country, stalling tactics are a lot better than nothing.