Map shows where Asian hornets have been spotted in the UK after new warning
The first Asian hornet sighting has been reported for this year and it comes weeks before they are normally spotted in the UK.
An Asian hornet is capable of decapitating and eating up to 50 honey bees a day and its sting is described as like being stabbed by a red hot needle.
Not only do they pose a threat to the environment, they can also kill people who have an allergy to them with just one sting.
The latest sighting of one has been spotted in Ash, Kent, on March 11, after it was found in a potting shed, according to the British Beekeepers Association.
The first reported sighting in 2023 was on April 11 in Northumberland, where a single Asian hornet was captured.
The first sighting of an Asian hornet in the UK was in 2016 and since then there has been 102 confirmed sightings in many different areas including London, Kent, East Sussex, Southampton, New Forest, Weymouth, Plymouth, Southend, Hull, Middlesbrough and Northumberland.
The numbers are on the increase and in 2023 there were 57 reported sightings across the UK – double the number of the previous seven years combined.
There is a risk they could kill off native bees in the country if they are allowed to settle here.
Diane Drinkwater, chair of the British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) told The Mirror about the latest sighting and said: ‘I suspect this is a winter queen that was born here. That has not been confirmed, but that would be logical.
‘Their life cycle is not advanced enough for them to have developed workers by this point. So I suspect it has not migrated from abroad, but we may have missed a nest somewhere.
‘We have seen a lot of rain so a lot of places where they hibernate might have been flooded. We always hope to see a lot of them die off.’
What does an Asian hornet look like?
- Asian hornets are distinctive because they are smaller than the native European hornet species. A key feature is they have an almost entirely dark abdomen, except for the 4th segment which is yellow.
- They have right yellow tips to legs (native hornets are instead dark)
- Asian hornets have an entirely brown or black thorax (native hornet it is more orange).
- Workers can be up to 25mm in length.
- Asian hornets make very large nests.
- They are most likely to be confused with the European hornet but less likely to be confused with queen median wasp.
- The main difference between European hornet and Asian hornet is the latter is slightly smaller, has characteristic yellow legs, a dark velvety thorax and a dark abdomen with a distinctive yellow band on the fourth segment.
- Asian hornets are never active at night whereas European hornets may be. Median wasp queen is smaller, has some yellow on the thorax (unlike Asian hornet) and lacks the characteristic feet and abdomen of the Asian hornet.
- Asian hornets have a dark brown or black velvety body.
Asian hornets have managed to spread across many different European countries after they were accidentally released in France in 2004.
These countries include Spain, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Portugal, and the UK.
They are also a problem in the Channel Islands where in 2022 one was found in an elderly woman’s trousers on Jersey.
The pensioner managed to trap the insect in a yoghurt pot and called 999 as officers and beekeepers rushed to her home.
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