No murder hornets in New Mexico

Rest easy: The large wasp dubbed a “murder hornet” by the media is not murderous to humans. Nor is it found in New Mexico, according to New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service specialists.

In July, Extension offices and New Mexico Department of Agriculture received a plethora of calls from concerned citizens regarding sightings of large wasps.

NMSU College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences has a new publication to help people identify the difference between Asian giant hornets and other large wasps commonly found in New Mexico and the Southwest.

“Although the name ‘murder hornet’ was given to these wasps, they are more commonly known by their less intimidating common name of Asian giant hornet,” said Amanda Skidmore, NMSU Extension integrated pest management specialist.

“While the media was abuzz with this introduced species into the United States, none have been found in the Southwest, and only a few have been found in the northwestern United States in Washington, along the Canadian border in 2019,” Skidmore said. “The Asian giant hornet should not pose an immediate threat to New Mexico because it prefers temperate rain forests and not high desert climates or high elevations.”

The cicada killer wasp has a similar body type and color to the Asian giant hornet, which may confuse observers.

The NMSU Extension publication includes information and photos to help observers identify the cicada killer wasp and tarantula hawk wasp, which is the New Mexico state insect.

To obtain a copy of the publication, visit https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H175.pdf.