On the Fly! Scientists Unlock Secrets of the Asian Giant Hornet

Posted by Paul Rusnak|August 7, 2020

According to USDA, the first complete genome of the Asian giant hornet has been released by a team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists with the hope of informing the collective research community immediately and help coordinate an effective response to this invasive insect that has it out for honey bees.

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Here's a side view of the northern giant hornet, the so-called "murder hornet." The first male of the species was recently found in Washington State.

Photo by Karla Salp, WSDA
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The northern giant hornet normally nests underground in large colonies.
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With advances that have been made in DNA sequencing, a faster response to new pest detections (such as the northern giant hornet) has become possible, removing limits that existed before due to sample size, DNA quality, and complexity.
Photo by Matthew L. Buffington
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The stinger of the northern giant hornet can be up to a quarter inch long.
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The northern giant hornet is usually 1.5 to 2 inches in length.
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Researchers in the Pacific Northwest have been watching for northern giant hornets. Through innovative efforts, they located the first nest in the U.S.
Photo courtesy of Washington State Department of Agriculture
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Apparently, northern giant hornets are fond of eating jam.
Photo courtesy of Washington State Department of Agriculture

ARS has made the genome available in AgDataCommons and the National Center for Biotechnology Information, even before publishing the results in a scientific journal to make the data freely accessible as quickly as possible.

Asian giant hornets are the largest wasps in the world, ranging from 1.5 to 2 inches long. Their native range extends from northern India to East Asia. Recently though, finds in western Washington State as well as Vancouver Island and Langley, Canada, raised the alarm for beekeepers in North America. Mainstream media coverage of the pest also gave rise to the notorious nickname “Murder Hornet.”

Asian giant hornets are of great concern for beekeepers because they can attack and decimate honey bee colonies.

The team of ARS entomologists and DNA sequence experts began the task in May in collaboration with the biotechnology company Pacific Biosciences. They were able to rapidly produce the entire genome sequence from the thorax of a single insect frozen from the colony found in the town of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island in September 2019.

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The team was able to finish the genome in just two months — much faster than a genome is usually completed, USDA notes, and from much less source material, demonstrating that genome sequencing can now be part of real-time response to invasive species.

This work is part of a larger picture known as the Ag100Pest Initiative, an ARS program to produce reference quality genome assemblies for the top 100 arthropod agricultural pests, including foreign pest species that are potential invasive threats to U.S. agriculture.

Anna Childers, a Computational Biologist with the ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, MD, who also coordinates the Asian giant hornet genome team, explained it is important to establish the sequence of the current colony in North America. She says this will help determine if any new finds come from the original source or to potentially signal a separate introduction from their Asian homeland.

In addition, genomic data also are being gathered from populations of Asian giant hornets across its native range so differences in various sub-species can be mapped. Scientists can use the data to try and determine the origin of Asian giant hornets in North America.

“Having this reference genome will help provide a broader biological picture of the Asian giant hornet. It also will help build an understanding of the dynamics of any Asian giant hornet populations in this country and how they may adapt as well as possibly provide information to sharpen the development of controls to prevent them from becoming established,” Childers said.

Paul Rusnak is the Senior Online Editor of American Vegetable Grower, American Fruit Grower, and Greenhouse Grower magazines, all Meister Media Worldwide brands. He is based in Northeast Florida. See all author stories here.