Asian giant hornet gets new name

The Washington State Department of Agriculture will now begin referring to what was most often called the “Asian giant hornet” as the “northern giant hornet.”

The change came after the Entomological Society of America (ESA) adopted the name for the species Vespa mandarinia in its Common Names of Insects and Related Organisms List.

While there was no official ESA common name until now, the hornet was most often referred to as “Asian giant hornet” or “murder hornet” since its existence in North America became widely known in 2020, WSDA said.

WSDA is following ESA’s recommendation and will also update its website and printed materials to reflect the name change in the coming weeks.

ESA also adopted a proposal for “southern giant hornet” as the common name for the species Vespa soror, which is a closely related and similarly large species to V. mandarinia — or the northern giant hornet. The descriptors “northern” and “southern,” which refer to the species’ native geographic ranges in Asia, will now also be used.

ESA’s insect common names guidelines include avoiding naming insects using geographic regions.

“The new names should also help reduce confusion between V. mandarinia — which had been known as the Asian giant hornet — and V. velutina — which had been known as the Asian hornet,” a WSDA news release said.

The northern giant hornet is an invasive hornet native to Asia that has been the target of eradication efforts in Washington state and British Columbia, Canada after individual hornets were first discovered in both locations in 2019.

WSDA entomologists have destroyed four northern giant hornet nests since they were first found in Washington.

Learn more about the northern giant hornet on WSDA’s hornet webpage.