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There are reports of the Asian Giant Hornet or the Asian Hornet spreading into Europe. There is some confusion because of the similar names -- Asian Hornet and Asian Giant Hornet, which are two different species. After an article published in The Cardinal -- Arlingtoncardinal.com, we have received numerous reports of sightings in various locations in the United States. No confirmed photo or video image evidence of an Asian Giant Hornet has been submitted in the United States. Photos submitted have usually been photos of European Hornets, Cicada Killer Wasps or sawflies. I witnessed the sighting of what I thought was an Asian Giant Hornet in July 2012 in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. My initial reaction was to laugh at the insect. It looked like a flying toy because of it's large size, and large orange "plastic" head appearance. I had never heard of any of these type of hornets before. I remember saying to myself, "What the heck are you?" and literally laughing. When I walked closer to it, the hornet squared off to my position, and I decided not to mess with it. I've had a lot of experience with Carpenter Bees, Yellow Jackets, and Honeybees; but I had never seen one of these before, and immediately looked up a match on the Internet -- including Google image searches and Wikipedia. I learned the different characteristics of the Asian Giant Hornet, the European Hornet (some similarity), and the Killer Cicada Wasp (which looks quite different).

It seems plausible that with O'Hare International Airport with its cargo area less than 10 miles away, and the occurrence of warmer winters recently; that the Asian Giant Hornet could survive in the northwest suburbs of Chicago -- at least during the warm winter and hot summer from 2011 to 2012. Of course, chances would be slim that a queen would actually establish a nest, so a single Asian Giant Hornet would simply perish after a year.

Many of the cargo aircraft at O'Hare are Boeing 747s from Asia. Since The Cardinal reported the sighting summer 2012, we have received numerous reports, from all over the United States, of sightings of a huge hornet. There is concern, because the Asian Giant Hornet is the deadliest animal known in Japan, and is also called a "Sparrow Bee" because of its size. Again no photo evidence exists of an Asian Giant Hornet in the United States. On this Facebook page many people have submitted photos of European Hornets and Cicada Killers. We'll continue to post all types of photos with geographic information to help people understand these hornets and wasps. See the article ...

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