Asian ‘Yellow Legged’ Hornets – a Threat to UK Wildlife
…..poor pollination of crops and a commensurate fall in crop yields.’
What is the Asian Hornet? It is an invasive, non-native, voracious apex predator! It predates on a wide variety of beneficial; insects inc pollinators such as butterflies, hoverflies, social wasps and all types of bees, particularly honey bees. Honey bees offer an easy source of food as they live in large static colonies. One Asian Hornet can take 30-50 honey bees per day and, like honey bees, they share the source of any food found, resulting in a nest of hornets killing up to 100,000 honey bees in a year. On the continent entire apiaries have been wiped out resulting in poor pollination of crops and a commensurate fall in crop yields.
The Asian or Yellow-legged Hornet arrived in Europe, near Bordeaux, in 2004, probably in a shipmet of pottery from China. They have since spread to the whole of France, parts of Italy, Spain, Portugal and Germany. They have been found in Belgium, Switzerland and Luxemburg and now also in the UK. In the UK they have been found in Gloucestershire, Kent, Dorset, Hampshire, Plymouth, Weymouth and Hull.
The first incursions in the UK were recorded in Jersey and Tetbury in 2016 and until 2022 there were just 16 known incursions with all the associated nests being destroyed. However, in 2023 the National Bee Unit (which is responsible for tracing and destroying these hornet nests) had found 72 nests in 56 locations, by November. So, this is an expanding problem. The French pretty much ignored the problem when it arrived but we cannot afford to and whilst beekeepers are using monitoring traps to establish and locate any Asian Hornet presence, we need the public – everyone – to be extra vigilant and to report any sitings of these insects as soon as they are seen.
What can you do to help?
There are Five Easy Steps you can take to help:
- Learn how to identify Asian Hornets
- Know where and when to look
- Know how to report your sightings (download the Asian Hornet App)
- Be vigilant
- Spread the word to others
I have kept this article as short as possible in order to get it into the March Bulletin as the over-wintered queens will be starting to fly any time now. I have included an image of a wallet card that we can supply to
Allotment groups to distribute to members and this is an identification poster issued by the Non-Native Species Secretariat, which also helps to distinguish it from other insects. Its main distinguishing features are its orange face, the one (fourth) orange segment on its abdomen and its legs that look like they have been dipped in yellow paint. I can supply laminated posters to put up in allotments and we would love it if allotments were prepared to put up monitoring traps. If you would like more information or have any questions please email me – mandj.caruana@gmail.com – in the first instance.