Washington State Discovers First 'Murder Hornet' Nest In US
Source: AP News
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Scientists have discovered the first nest of so-called murder hornets in the United States and plan to wipe it out Saturday to protect native honeybees, officials in Washington state said.
After weeks of searching, the agency said it found the nest of Asian giant hornets in Blaine, a city north of Seattle near the Canadian border. Bad weather delayed plans to destroy the nest Friday.
The world’s largest hornet at 2 inches (5 centimeters) long, the invasive insects can decimate entire hives of honeybees and deliver painful stings to people. Farmers in the northwestern U.S. depend on those honeybees to pollinate many crops, including raspberries and blueberries.
Despite their nickname and the hype around the insect that has stirred fears in an already bleak year, the hornets kill at most a few dozen people a year in Asian countries, and experts say it is probably far less. Meanwhile, hornets, wasps and bees typically found in the United States kill an average of 62 people a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/spokane-insects-washington-asia-seattle-0cbf9cccf5a4a62902aa880c87629172
Asian giant hornets' greatest harm is their devastating attacks on honeybees, already under siege from problems like mites, diseases, pesticides and loss of food. A small group of the hornets can kill an entire honeybee hive in hours.
Scientists have been searching for nests since the first Asian giant hornets were caught earlier this year with the first confirmed detection of the hornet in the U.S. in Dec. 2019 near Blaine. The first hornet was trapped in July. Just over 20 have been caught so far, all in Whatcom County.
The invasive giant hornet is normally found in China, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam and other Asian countries. Officials have said it’s not known how it arrived in NA. Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia are the only places the hornets have been found on the continent.
- A live Asian giant hornet with a tracking device affixed to it sits on an apple in a tree where it was placed, near Blaine, Washington, Oct. 7, 2020.
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I've been there. Blaine IS the town with a border crossing (that includes a palm tree) into British Columbia.
Between those hornets over there and the damn lanternflys over here in PA (that are slowly moving into surrounding states), we are being overrun with non-native pests! 
I saw my first one the summer before this past one and this year, I have been inundated with them, crawling all over the front and back of my house, crawling around on sidewalks, in store parking lots, and landing on the car (they especially like to hop on car tires since they are technically leaf hoppers, although they can fly short distances). These things have slowly been decimating the vineyards. I spent much of the summer swatting, smashing and spraying them.
I am sure those hornets, like these lanternflys, came over on cargo ships and/or on planes and any that survived the fumigation they usually do with certain cargo, were spread around via tractor-trailers, since we import so much from China.
I know I've seen them every year since the early 2000s in my neighborhood and since they are basically thin and flat with a hard shell, they can crawl under doors or through narrow cracks by windows and then lay a pile of eggs that eventually hatch, with the baby instars easily able to get further into the house and grow up to be full size bugs that you suddenly spot on a wall or sheer curtain.
There were thankfully less of them this year despite the mild winter, but those damn lanternflys just exploded this year.
They had a steamer trunk that she and her hubby had used to store assorted stuff for when they were moving into a new house. So since it was used to hold odds and ends, they didn't get around to unpacking it right away. But once they finally got to it and opened the lid, she said the entire thing was crawling with them. She then described the nightmare that lasted much of a weekend trying to get rid of them from the trunk. I think they started out with a vacuum cleaner and were using old towels to wipe out the eggs, and then had to hunt down everywhere else they had crawled when they opened that trunk. 
I remember at the place I moved where I'm living now, I ran into a bunch that found my hummingbird feeder. I had never seen those large white hornets and ID'd what they were. They were chasing both the hummers and the regular yellow jackets away and even bothering the carpenter bees. I was finally able to make a simple "trap" out of a small mason jar, aluminum foil, and using I think some apple cider vinegar and jelly as bait, and managed to snag 6 of them. Apparently there was a nest of them nearby.
but you definitely can't miss them because they are pretty large and so unique compared to the regular yellow and black striped yellow jackets.
I saw a hummingbird moth once - and it was long ago when I was growing some moonflower vines that were just opening at dusk and suddenly it appeared (the hummingbirds had already gone back to their nests to sleep). This what they look like -
(aka "Sphinx moth" of "Silence of the Lambs" fame 
)
I do know there are different types of hummingbird moths. What makes them noticeable is that they are huge compared to the standard moths you see flitting around.
What is scary are the Chinese preying mantises. I had one last year on my milkweed stalking the monarch caterpillars (which I ended up pulling off the plant and putting in a mesh keeper with their own potted milkweed) AND it moved near my hummingbird feeder and was stalking them too. Had to shoo it away. The thing had to be at least 4" long and looked like this -
I guess enough with the bugs. 
What were the 10 plagues sent by God?
The plagues are: water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the killing of firstborn children.
Lice we can handle, but killer hornets???
