TORONTO -- A Canadian entomologist says Asian giant hornets -- also known as ‘murder hornets’ -- have only been reported in B.C., but may spread to other provinces if successful colonies are established.
"If [the hornets] survive well in British Columbia, I think the climatic zones that they can survive in would go up into pretty much all of Canada," University of Manitoba entomologist Robert Currie said in a telephone interview with CTVNews.ca on Monday. "They're restricted usually into kind of the warmer areas, but they do have the potential to migrate."
The Asian giant hornet was first spotted in B.C. in August 2019, and this past December in Washington state. Officials in those regions have now issued warnings that the Vespa mandarinia species may be active again this spring as queens emerge from hibernation to build nests and form colonies.
