Another Asian giant hornet was spotted in B.C. just a few kilometres away from where one of the insects, also known as “murder hornets,” was found last week.
The insect was found in Aldergrove near the junction of Fraser Highway and Highway 13 on Saturday, according to a statement from B.C.’s Ministry of Agriculture, days after an Asian giant hornet sighting in Abbotsford.
The ministry went on to say the sightings “coincide with a phase in the hornets’ life cycle in which they disperse from their nests to look for new hornets to mate with.”
The ministry said it is conducting surveillance and is monitoring a number of different insect traps along 0 Avenue in the Fraser Valley as well as in Nanaimo, where the hornets, which can measure up to five centimetres in size, were first spotted in B.C. last September.
Asian giant hornets are known to prey on honeybees and destroy their hives.
The insects can be deadly to humans, despite not being generally interested in them or animals.
Experts say 10 or more stings can cause a toxic or allergic reaction that could prove fatal if not addressed immediately.
Last month, an Asian giant hornet nest was discovered in Blaine, Wash., just a few kilometres south of the U.S.-Canada border.
Single hornets were discovered in White Rock and Langley in 2019, and on 0 Avenue in Langley earlier this year, according to the ministry, although a murder hornet nest has never been found in the Fraser Valley or Lower Mainland.
— With files from Simon Little and Sean Boynton