What’s the buzz? Bug report stirs up controversy

PORT COLBORNE — A Niagara beekeeper is standing by his conclusion that large insects discovered at a Port Colborne park are Japanese hornets, despite claims from other experts who are saying he’s wrong.

George Scott from Wainfleetbased Niagara Beeway was called in Wednesday by the city to investigate after parks and recreation staff came across several large burrows on two clay baseball diamonds at the municipality’s facility on West Side Road.

On Thursday, Scott was at the Rotary baseball diamonds near the old Port Colborne arena, a few hours after St. Catharinesbased Truly Nolen was at the site spraying poison to compact the insect for the second consecutive day.

Asked about opinions being shared on social media and by other professionals from various parts of Canada who disagree with Scott and who believe the bugs found are cicada killer wasps, a species known to exist locally, the registered beekeeper insists what was found are Japanese hornets, also known as Asian hornets.

Subtle differences in colour, the composition of veins in the insects’ wings, and how many times he and his colleagues have been stung, are reasons he feels Niagara is dealing with an aggressive hornet and not the cicada killer, a species he says is more complacent.

“In 33 years, we’ve never had a sting incident from a cicada. We’re getting stung by something we’ve never seen before,” he said Thursday at the ballpark.

“These behave more like a bald-faced wasp. It will follow you to your house,” he added.

He said the dissimilarities are “ever-so-slightly different” when asked what specific physical patterns on the body of the bugs people should look for when trying to tell them apart.

Etienne Normandin, an entomologist from University of Montreal, contacted The Tribune in response to an article published after the City of Port Colborne issued a statement saying a situation involving Japanese hornets was being dealt with.

He said he’s “100 per cent sure” that the insect shown in photos isn’t what Scott and the city say it is, although there have been reports of European hornets in Ontario.

The antennae on the insect shown is one of the first red flags, he said. “The antennae are clearly not part of the hornet family,” said Normandin, noting that a cicada killer’s are longer.

Normandin also said a cicada killer’s abdomen is more flat than a hornet’s, and larger face for predatory purposes.

“Hornets have really big faces and strong muscles because they hunt with them,” he said, also explaining that hornets carry and chew their prey.

Scott said he has seen one with a grasshopper in tow, another reason to believe the Asian hornets are in the region.

Steven Paiero, curator of the University of Guelph insect collection, also said the insect shown in recently published photos is a cicada killer and that the behaviour being witnessed by Scott and his team in other places might be coming from European hornets.

A cicada killer is considered a solitary insect, one that’s not as defensive.

Social wasps include hornets and yellow jackets are cavity nesters, making their homes in spots like hollowed trees.

Paiero said a clay baseball diamond is an ideal location for the cicada killer, too.

“That’s where they tend to like to nest,” he said.