"Murder hornet" really a "cicada killer"

This is the large wasp that gave a Magnolia family a scare. It turned out not to be the so-called murder hornet.
This is the large wasp that gave a Magnolia family a scare. It turned out not to be the so-called murder hornet.

A local family was shocked to see an extremely large wasp flying around and became convinced that the so-called “murder hornet” had invaded Magnolia.

Willie and Mary Champ, along with some family members, were enjoying a cool afternoon on their front porch last week when daughter, Ann Johnson, noticed the huge wasp buzzing around. She managed to swat the insect, and then took a few pictures.

“Is it one of those murder hornets? We googled it. It looks just like one of them,” Johnson said in a text message to the Banner-News. Her mother wanted to know for certain and prayed others were not flying around.

“Do you think that dust blew them down here?” asked Champ, referring to the the west Africa Sahara dust that reached the United States.

But according to University of Arkansas Professor of Entomology Don Steinkraus, “This is definitely NOT a murder hornet.”

After looking at the insect pictures that were emailed to him, Steinkraus said it’s a native wasp called a “cicada killer.”

“Cicada killer wasps are large, and do resemble a murder hornet a bit, especially to the untrained eye,” he said.

According to Wikipedia, sphecius speciosus, often simply referred to as the cicada killer or the cicada hawk, is a large digger wasp species. Cicada killers are large, solitary wasps in the family Crabronidae.

Steinkraus said, “Cicada killers are not hornets, but wasps that specialize in capturing cicadas, bringing them back to a tunnel they make in the soil, then laying an egg on the paralyzed cicada, and their larva eats the cicada, then pupates in the soil, and emerges the following spring to continue the life cycle.”

According to the entomologist, only the females capture cicadas and use their sting to paralyze the cicada.

“Female cicada killers can sting a person, if the person is foolish enough to pick it up with their bare hands, but they do not want to sting us. Their sting is not that bad, about like a honey bee sting,” he said. “If a person is stung by one and they are hyperallergic to wasp stings, then they might need to seek medical attention, but otherwise, not. I do not know of anyone who has ever been stung by a cicada killer. Most people are smart enough not to pick one up.”

The expert said there is no proof that the “murder hornet” is anyone in the U.S. other than Washington and it’s very unlikely the hornet will make its way to Arkansas anytime soon.

“First of all that is a bad name for it, but someone made the name up and it scares you,” he said.

Steinkraus mentioned that it’s actually the giant Asian hornet and comes from Japan, China and Southeast Asia, which somehow made its way to Washington state and British Columbia.

“There have not been a lot of them seen. It’s the biggest hornet in the world, so it’s about two inches long…very big, OVERSET FOLLOWS:very potent, very tough little creature,” he said.

“As of this date, the Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, has not been found in Arkansas, and I do not expect that it will be, for many years, if ever,” he said, adding “It is good for the public to keep their eye open for very large wasps. Better to photograph them, than to kill them.”

Steinkraus said the giant Asian hornet can be up to two inches long and they nest in the ground. He added the European hornet looks very similar to the giant Asian hornet, so a lot of people may mistake one for the other.

The European hornet is a little smaller and nest in trees. He says at this point the average Arkansans risk from the ‘murder hornet’ is zero.

Steinkraus said, “The cicada killer is part our natural wildlife and if I had them nesting in my yard, I would not kill them. I would just avoid picking them up, or stepping on them with bare feet.”

Again, referring to the so-called murder hornet, he noted, “It might be years before they ever make their way here and that’s a prediction. I would guess 10 years if I was guessing, but that’s just a guess. My guess is if they made it here, one or two people a year might be infected by them.”

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