Mistaken Identity: The Cicada Killer Wasp and the Asian Giant Hornet

The recent conjectures about the Asian giant hornets (AKA murder hornets) have been a topic of several news stories. Extension team and I have received several calls and inquiries for identification of wasps confused with the Asian giant hornet. While there have been no confirmed sightings of the Asian giant hornet in Arizona, we do however have cicada killer wasps, which are also very large, at first glance can be confused with the Asian giant hornet, and can be found in large number due to the recent emerging of cicadas. Gene Hall, Peter Ellsworth and Naomi Pier have developed a new Short publication to set the record on differentiating between the two wasps.