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The invasive Asian giant hornet, also known as "murder hornets," has a new name, the Associated Press reports.
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) as renamed this species the "northern giant hornet," according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture on Monday (July 25). Officials will also refer to the destructive insects with the new common name.
The hornets, which are native to Asia, were first detected in Washington and British Columbia, Canada back in 2019. State entomologists have been busy confining the northern giant hornets to Whatcom County and eradicating them. They've eliminated four nests so far and are setting nearly 1,000 hornet traps in the area, reporters say.
Scientists say these invasive hornets kill local bee and hornet populations. Bees that are native to North America are considered critically endangered, according to the National Wildlife Federation. The introduction of northern giant hornets threatened another potential blow to native bee populations.
The hornets initially didn't have an official ESA common name, which avoids naming insects based on geographic regions.
"The proposal to establish an ESA common name for V. mandarinia came from Dr. Chris Looney, who has been actively involved in WSDA’s hornet research and efforts to eradicate northern giant hornet from Washington," WSDA's release reads.