An invasive hornet species was spotted this month in the United States for the first time, and state officials in Georgia, fearing it could harm the agriculture industry, said they were working with federal officials and academic experts to eradicate it. A beekeeper in Savannah, Ga., discovered an unusual insect on his property and reported it to the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the University of Georgia to confirm that it was a yellow-legged hornet. Native to tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia, the yellow-legged hornet could threaten the state’s honey production, native pollinators and agriculture industry, the state’s Agriculture Department said in a statement on Tuesday. The species’ appearance is troubling because the hornet preys on honeybees, said Chuck Bargeron, director of the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health at the University of Georgia.

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Persons: Chuck Bargeron Organizations: Georgia Department of Agriculture, U.S . Department of Agriculture’s, Plant Health, Service, University of Georgia, state’s Agriculture Department, Center Locations: United States, Georgia, Savannah , Ga, Southeast Asia