OK, so here it is yet again. Murder hornets – more accurately known as Asian giant hornets – have never been found in Pennsylvania. The native of eastern Asian has never been located closer than 2,000-plus miles from westernmost Pennsylvania.
A nest or 2 of the 2-inch-plus hornets have been found in the Seattle, Washington, area and destroyed each year since 2019, but as Penn State Extension points out, Asian giant hornets “are not present in Pennsylvania.”
We note that in every article we run about the insects, but that hasn’t kept dozens and dozens, possibly hundreds, of Pennsylvanians from reporting discoveries of murder hornets in their backyards, gardens, parks, office buildings, city streets and elsewhere.
Any large, hornet-, wasp- or bee-like insect can launch an urgent report, but the insects occurring in Pennsylvania that generate the most mistaken reports are the European hornet and the eastern cicada killer, both of which are smaller than the murder hornet.
Beyond the size difference, the Asian giant hornet is broader than the other 2, particularly in its head and face, which is both cartoonish and fierce, with large protruding, teardrop-shaped eyes.
The head of the Asian giant hornet is almost entirely yellow-orange, while the head of the eastern cicada killer is mostly black and the head of the European hornet is reddish brown with more yellow near the face.
The orange and black stripes that extend down the body of the Asian giant hornet, much like the stripes of a tiger, further distinguish the insect from its smaller cousins. The black bands on the Asian giant hornet are wider than those on the European hornet – roughly the same width as the orange bands – and of more uniform width than those of eastern cicada killer.
The black areas are much larger and more shield-shaped on the body of the eastern cicada killer, which has more black than orange on its body.
The European hornet has generally thinner bands of black (dark brown, actually) on its body than either of the other 2.
Another insect that’s generating quite a few reader queries just now is the saddleback caterpillar, which is the brightly colored, highly toxic larval form of the slug moth.
Contact with the many bristling clumps of sharp, toxin-laden hairs arrayed on the caterpillar produces immediate and intense burning sensations at the contact point, followed by redness and blistering that may last for 5 hours and leave a red mark. In more severe cases, symptoms can include migraines, gastrointestinal disorders, asthma-like conditions, shock and hemorrhaging.
The caterpillar can be as small as 0.05 inch when they hatch and grow to as much an inch in length.
The saddleback can be found in gardens, fields, woodlands and edges of wetlands. Common food plants, which they might be found near, include everything from apple to blueberry to cabbage to grass to oak.
You can share your nature or outdoor questions and observations with Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
And, for more outdoor coverage, subscribe to Marcus Schneck’s free, weekly Outdoor Pennsylvania newsletter right here:
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