Background: Ecological niche modeling is a set of analytical tools with applications in diverse disciplines, yet creating these models rigorously is now a challenging task. The calibration phase of these models is critical, but despite recent attempts at providing tools for performing this step, adequate detail is still missing. Here, we present the kuenm R package, a new set of tools for performing detailed development of ecological niche models using the platform Maxent in a reproducible way.Results: This package takes advantage of the versatility of R and Maxent to enable detailed model calibration and selection, final model creation and evaluation, and extrapolation risk analysis. Best parameters for modeling are selected considering (1) statistical significance, (2) predictive power, and (3) model complexity. For final models, we enable multiple parameter sets and model transfers, making processing simpler. Users can also evaluate extrapolation risk in model transfers via mobility-oriented parity (MOP) metric.Discussion: Use of this package allows robust processes of model calibration, facilitating creation of final models based on model significance, performance, and simplicity. Model transfers to multiple scenarios, also facilitated in this package, significantly reduce time invested in performing these tasks. Finally, efficient assessments of strict-extrapolation risks in model transfers via the MOP and MESS metrics help to prevent overinterpretation in model outcomes.

The Asian giant hornet (AGH,Vespa mandarinia) is the world’s largest hornet, occurring naturally in the Indomalayan region, where it is a voracious predator of pollinating insects including honey bees. In September 2019, a nest of Asian giant hornets was detected outside of Vancouver, British Columbia; multiple individuals were detected in British Columbia and Washington state in 2020; and another nest was found and eradicated in Washington state in November 2020, indicating that the AGH may have successfully wintered in North America. Because hornets tend to spread rapidly and become pests, reliable estimates of the potential invasive range ofV. mandariniain North America are needed to assess likely human and economic impacts, and to guide future eradication attempts. Here, we assess climatic suitability for AGH in North America, and suggest that, without control, this species could establish populations across the Pacific Northwest and much of eastern North America. Predicted suitable areas for AGH in North America overlap broadly with areas where honey production is highest, as well as with species-rich areas for native bumble bees and stingless bees of the genusMeliponain Mexico, highlighting the economic and environmental necessity of controlling this nascent invasion.