News Animals

‘Murder hornets’ have a new common name: Northern giant hornet

Worries over rising anti-Asian bias added urgency to picking a new name for Asian giant hornets

portrait of a northern giant hornet specimen

U.S. insect scientists chose a new, mild common name — northern giant hornet — for what’s been sensationalized as a murder hornet. Until now, less sensational scientists called it the Asian giant hornet.

Hanna Royals, Museum Collections: Hymenoptera, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org (CC BY-NC 3.0)

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

What’s been called a “murder hornet” or “Asian giant hornet” now has a somewhat official, maybe kinder, name.