Officials are asking South Carolina residents for help after discovering a large and highly destructive invasive hornet species capable of decimating beneficial honeybee colonies.
What's happening?
As detailed by Fox Carolina, the Clemson Department of Plant Industry wants local residents to be vigilant after officials captured a yellow-legged hornet queen in Jasper County.
While the university noted that yellow-legged hornets are no more dangerous to humans than other stinging insects and wasps, the invasive Southeast Asian species is known to attack native honeybee species and has wiped out entire colonies.
"The yellow-legged hornet is a predatory insect … and has become a serious pest of beekeeping operations where it has been introduced," Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program director Ben Powell told Fox Carolina. "Establishment of this exotic pest in the U.S. would pose a significant threat to our already embattled beekeeping enterprises."
Why is this important?
Invasive creatures and plants are known to disrupt the natural balance of ecosystems, leading to myriad issues, from reduced biodiversity and food-chain disruptions to billions of dollars in economic losses every year.
The emerald ash borer, for example, is a type of beetle responsible for killing at least 100 million trees. (Officials believe the beetle native to northeast Asia first entered the United States sometime in the 1990s, per the National Park Service.)
As for honeybees, they pollinate about one in every three bites of food we eat and keep our planet beautiful, supporting 80% of flowering plants globally, according to The Bee Conservancy. Unfortunately, approximately 25% of honeybee species are at risk of extinction.
The use of chemical pesticides and rising global temperatures are part of the problem — meaning natural pest control and pollution-reduction efforts also help the pollinators — but large invasive hornets like the yellow-legged variety also threaten their survival.
What's being done about yellow-legged hornets?
DPI assistant director Steven Long provided hopeful insight on the situation to Fox Carolina.
"The fact that we captured a queen is significant. It means that we have prevented a yellow-legged hornet nest from establishing in South Carolina," he explained. "Georgia has been battling these insects and continues to capture them in the Savannah area, and we will continue to monitor our traps."
Officials are also urging residents to report any sightings of the yellow-legged hornets so the state's Apiary Inspection Program can investigate. The hornets live in "egg-shaped, paper nests" that are typically above ground, per Fox Carolina.
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