Where did these giant hornets come from?

What is it about?

Several Asian hornet species are invasive and can have detrimental effects on honeybees and other insect species. They are distributed in many Asian countries. Fertilized queens can often hide themselves in crevices in cargos and get transported over long distances. This study focuses on the Asian giant hornets. When they were found in British Columbia in Canada or Washington State in the US and were eliminated after a great deal of effort, one needs to know their migration routes from Asia to North America so as to implement more rigorous prevention and inspection measures to avoid such migration events. Which Asian populations are the source population of those hornets that have successfully arrived in Canada and the US? Those found in Nanaimo, British Columbia, are identical in DNA to the two sequences from Japan. Those found in Blaine, Washington State, are identical or nearly identical to those from the Republic of Korea. The study explored phylogeographic patterns further to understand the migration and speciation of the giant hornet and its close relatives.

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Why is it important?

Studying invasive species is important in two ways. First, it provides insight to avoid the undesirable impact on endemic animals and plants that often follows a successful invasion. Second, it offers a rare opportunity to study organismal adaptation in a new environment, which is often associated with allopatric speciation.

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