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ViewAttendees 13

P-IE

10-Minute Paper

10-min: P-IE, Invasive Species

Sphex and the city: Harnessing the intense public interest in Vespa mandarinia

On-Demand
On-Demand

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Chris Looney

    Washington State Department of Agriculture
    Olympia, Washington

    • Co-Author(s)

  • KS

    Karla Salp

    Washington State Department of Agriculture
    Olympia, Washington

  • CC

    Cassie Cichorz

    Washington State Department of Agriculture
    Olympia, Washington

  • JL

    Jessica La Belle

    Washington State Department of Agriculture
    Olympia, Washington

  • AY

    Angela A. Yoder

    Washington State Department of Agriculture
    Olympia, Washington

  • BC

    Brant Carman

    Washington State Department of Agriculture
    Olympia, Washington

  • LD

    Leah Doyle

    Washington State Department of Agriculture
    Olympia, Washington

  • Pv

    Paul van Westendorp

    British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture
    Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada

  • SS

    Sven-Erik Spichiger

    Washington State Department of Agriculture
    Olympia, Washington

Multiple Pacific Northwest sightings of the Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia Smith, 1852, in 2019 and 2020 resulted in an intense frenzy of interest from the general public. Government agencies and universities across the USA and Canada fielded numerous requests from media outlets and members of the public, and responded to thousands of reports of suspect hornets. There was also an abundance of unsolicited suggestions for how to control hornets or protect beehives. The Washington State Department of Agriculture and British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture have actively promoted and are relying upon public participation and reporting in our efforts to locate and eradicate the species, and the first seven locations/specimens were indeed provided by members of the public. However, the overwhelming majority of reports have been a range of native or long-established species other than AGH. This presentation will describe the citizen science trapping programs we have employed in Washington and British Columbia. We summarize the insect taxa (and other things) that were reported as suspect AGH, and the various steps taken to keep public reporting viable without overwhelming staff. We will also present the range of management ideas offered, from the tractable to the bizarre. Many of the project management strategies offered here will be of no surprise to anyone organizing a citizen science campaign, but some issues of accessibility and protecting privacy may be of interest.