Scientists discover first ‘murder hornet’ of the year in US

A Washington State Department of Agriculture worker displays an Asian giant hornet taken from a nest (Elaine Thompson/PA)

Scientists have found a dead Asian giant hornet north of Seattle, the first so-called murder hornet discovered in the US this year, federal and state investigators said.

Entomologists from the state and US Agriculture departments said it was the first confirmed report from Snohomish County, north of Seattle, and appears to be unrelated to the 2019 and 2020 findings of the hornets in Canada and Whatcom County, along the Canadian border, that gained widespread attention.