The non-native yellow-legged Asian hornet (Vespa velutina), named for its distinctive yellow legs, poses a risk to various insect species in the UK, including vital pollinators like bees. This species is particularly menacing to honey bees and is officially recognized as a notifiable species. If spotted, individuals are urged to report sightings of the Asian Hornet immediately via the Asian Hornet Watch app, an online form, or by emailing the Non-Native Species Secretariat with accompanying photographic evidence and location specifics. There are also many simple ways you can attempt to trap an Asian hornet for monitoring purposes. More on this below.
European hornet (Vespa Crabro)
Asian Giant hornet (Vespa Mandarinia)
The yellow-legged hornet differs from our native European hornet (left, top), yet the two are frequently confused. Additionally, it’s commonly mistaken for the Asian Giant hornet (left, bottom), which has recently appeared in the United States. Both species have earned the moniker “murder hornet” due to their capacity to decimate honey bee colonies or inflict fatal stings on humans. Nevertheless, the vast majority of stings typically cause moderate but temporary discomfort, including pain, redness, and itchiness.
European hornet (Vespa Crabro)
Asian Giant hornet (Vespa Mandarinia)
The Asian hornet differs from our native European hornet, yet the two are frequently confused. Additionally, it’s commonly mistaken for the Asian Giant hornet, which has recently appeared in the United States. Both species have earned the moniker “murder hornet” due to their capacity to decimate honey bee colonies or inflict fatal stings on humans. Nevertheless, the vast majority of stings typically cause moderate but temporary discomfort, including pain, redness, and itchiness.
Asian Hornet
Asian hornet abdomen almost entirely dark except for 4th abdominal section
European Hornet
The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) is native to Asia and was confirmed in Europe for the first time in Lot-et-Garonne in the southwest of France in 2004. It is thought to have been imported in a consignment of pottery from China and quickly established and spread to many regions of France. As of December 2022, Asian hornet is established in Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Jersey.
The hornet preys on a wide range of insects including honey bees, and disrupts the ecological role they provide. It has altered the biodiversity in regions of France where it is present and can be a health risk to those who have allergies to hornet or wasp stings..
The Asian hornet was first confirmed in the UK in September 2016. The UK’s first detection was near Tetbury in Gloucestershire, where a nest was discovered and destroyed by the National Bee Unit. Around the same time, another hornet was found in North Somerset. Genetic analysis linked both sightings to the same Chinese origin population that had spread through continental Europe.
Over the following years, sightings remained relatively sporadic but persistent. Between 2017 and 2022, there were 23 confirmed sightings in mainland Britain, with 13 nests successfully located and destroyed. These incursions occurred mostly along the south coast, especially in areas like Devon and Kent. While none of the hornets detected in this period were believed to have led to overwintering populations, the repeated need for eradication efforts highlighted the species’ growing foothold just across the Channel, particularly on the Channel Islands.
In 2023, the situation escalated dramatically. The UK reported 72 nests in 56 locations—more than in all previous years combined. This surge was concentrated primarily in Kent and East Sussex, regions closest to the European mainland, suggesting that cross-Channel migration was becoming increasingly common. Though eradication efforts remained successful, the scale of the incursion signaled that the Asian hornet was becoming a serious and immediate threat.
By 2024, for the first time, evidence emerged that the hornet had successfully bred and overwintered in Britain. Genetic analysis of early-season specimens, particularly in Kent, confirmed they had not arrived from Europe but had survived the British winter. This marked a turning point in the fight to prevent the species from establishing a self-sustaining population on the mainland.
The early months of 2025 saw another alarming development. In Jersey, a hotspot for Asian hornet activity, over 260 queens were detected by mid-April—a more than tenfold increase compared to the same period in 2023. Although only two confirmed sightings had occurred in mainland Britain by that time, experts warned that the conditions were ripe for further spread. A dry spring, coupled with increased breeding success across the Channel, heightened fears of another record-breaking year.
The Asian hornet poses a serious ecological threat. A single nest can consume over 11 kilograms of insects in a season, targeting honey bees and other native pollinators. While the hornet’s sting isn’t more dangerous than that of native wasps or hornets, its impact on biodiversity and agriculture is significant.
Despite the risks, containment efforts—led by the National Bee Unit, supported by public reports and new AI-based tracking technologies—have so far prevented widespread establishment. Nevertheless, 2025 is widely regarded by experts as a pivotal year. Vigilance from beekeepers, ecologists, and the public remains critical to stopping this invasive species from becoming a permanent feature of Britain’s landscape.
The Asian hornet, smaller than our native species, European hornet, measures around 25mm in length (workers), while queens reach 30mm. Its predominantly black abdomen is distinguished by a yellow band on the fourth segment. Also recognisable by its yellow legs, it’s commonly referred to as the yellow-legged hornet, and its face exhibits an orange hue complemented by two brownish-red compound eyes.
After hibernation in spring the queen will emerge and seek out an appropriate sugary food source in order to build up energy to commence building a small embryonic nest. During construction of the nest, she is alone and vulnerable, but she will rapidly begin laying eggs to produce the future workforce. As the colony and nest size increases, a larger nest is either established around the embryonic nest or they relocate and build elsewhere.
An average colony produces 6,000 individuals in a single season. While adult hornets primarily sustain themselves on carbohydrate sources from nectar, larval secretions, or ripe fruits, they must continuously forage for protein to feed the developing brood. This protein is obtained in the form of a ‘flesh pellet,’ a small piece of proteinaceous material carved out from the protein-rich thorax of a captured arthropod or from carrion. From July onwards, predation by Asian hornets on honey bee colonies begins and escalates until late November, with hornets observed hovering outside hive entrances, awaiting returning foragers, a behaviour known as “hawking.” Upon catching a returning bee they make the flesh pellet by removing the wings, legs, head and abdomen. They transport the flesh pellet back to their nest where it is chewed into a sticky liquid and fed to their own larvae.
During autumn, the nest’s priorities shift from foraging and nest expansion to producing on average 350 potential gynes (queens) and male hornets for mating, however, of these potential queens, only a small amount will successfully mate and make it through winter. After the mating period, the newly fertilised queens will leave the nest and find somewhere suitable to over-winter, while the old queen will die, leaving the nest to dwindle and die off. The following spring, the founding queen will begin building her new colony and the process begins again.
logo to customize your view by year. You have the option to observe a single year or multiple years simultaneously.
logo to customize your view by year. You have the option to observe a single year or multiple years simultaneously.
Collecting Evidence:
For further information on collecting samples and more, visit our Asian Hornet Teams page.
The Asian Hornet is a hornet of Asian origin which is a generalist predator of medium and large sized insects, and scavenger of vertebrate carrion. It has recently been spreading in Asia (it is an invasive species in South Korea and Japan), and the subspecies V. v. nigrithorax has been accidentally introduced to Europe where it was first recorded in southern France in 2005. Since then it has been found in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, the Channel Islands and the Balearic Islands.
This invasive species threatens honey production and native pollinating insects. It may be introduced and transported accidentally with soil associated with plants, garden furniture and pots, timber, vegetables, camping equipment, etc.
Most of the 22 hornet species originate in Asia. Only two species are native to Europe: the European hornet, Vespa crabro Linnaeus (1758) and the oriental hornet Vespa orientalis Linnaeus (1771)
Like other social wasps, hornets build communal nests by chewing wood to make a papery pulp. Each nest has one queen, which lays eggs and is attended by workers that, while female, do not lay fertile eggs. Most species make exposed nests in trees and shrubs, but some (such as Vespa orientalis) build their nests underground or in other cavities. In the tropics, these nests may last year-round, but in temperate areas, the nest dies over the winter, with lone queens hibernating behind tree bark or in leaf litter and other insulative material until the spring.
Male hornets are docile and do not have stingers.
St Albans & District Beekeepers Association CIO (SABKA) Registered Charity No-1193448
is an Affiliated Local Association (ALA) of Hertfordshire Beekeepers Association (HBKA) Registered Charity No-1184766.
Hertfordshire Beekeepers Association (HBKA) is an Area Association Member (AAM) of The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) Registered Charity No-1185343.
Click to view our Charity Registration Certificate
St Albans & District Beekeepers Association CIO (SABKA) Registered Charity No-1193448
is an Affiliated Local Association (ALA) of Hertfordshire Beekeepers Association (HBKA) Registered Charity No-1184766.
Hertfordshire Beekeepers Association (HBKA) is an Area Association Member (AAM) of The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) Registered Charity No-1185343.
Click to view our Charity Registration Certificate
St Albans & District Beekeepers Association CIO (SABKA) Registered Charity No-1193448
is an Affiliated Local Association (ALA) of Hertfordshire Beekeepers Association (HBKA) Registered Charity No-1184766.
Hertfordshire Beekeepers Association (HBKA) is an Affiliated Local Association (ALA) of The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) Registered Charity No-1185343.
Click to view our Charity Registration Certificate
St Albans & District Beekeepers Association CIO (SABKA) Registered Charity No-1193448
is an Affiliated Local Association (ALA) of Hertfordshire Beekeepers Association (HBKA) Registered Charity No-1184766.
Hertfordshire Beekeepers Association (HBKA) is an Affiliated Local Association (ALA) of The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) Registered Charity No-1185343.
Click to view our Charity Registration Certificate
