Basic information on the Vespa velutina Asian hornet

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The so known as the yellow-legged hornet is a non-native invasive Alien species of hornet from Asia. When we say invasive we mean (It has the ability to spread very quickly and undesirably or harmfully)

The Asian hornet as pictured first arrived into Europe during 2004, since then it has spread rapidly and is currently present in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium and The Channel Islands. It has also recently been found in the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

The Vespa velutina Asian hornet should be a worrying concern for all, not just beekeepers because it is a predator of various insects including pollinator insects. The Vespa velutina, Asian hornet has the ability to cause significant losses to bee colonies and potentially other native species and have been identified as a high-risk non-native species due to their threat to native biodiversity.

How to identify an Asian hornet

 ​The Vespa velutina Asian hornet has very distinctive yellow legs with either a velvety brown or black abdomen and narrow posterior with a yellow border, except for the fourth segment, which is orange. Their head is black with a yellow face. The Queens are approx. 30 mm in length, and males around 24 mm. The workers typically measure around 20 mm in length. Distinct information can be found on either of the downloads produced by the NNSS GB non-native species secretariat  or  The French National Museum of Natural History which you will find further down on this page or on our Report a sighting page.

Images of the Asian Hornet Vespa velutina
​The Vespa velutina is a fast spreading, highly aggressive predator posing a significant threat to honey bees and other insects.  In Northern Spain (Galicia)  they had a spread from 2 to 10’642 Vespa velutina nests in only 4 years. Research shows that other countries previously invaded have failed at attempts to prevent and control their spread. The invasive Vespa velutina also known as the Asian wasp, Asian hornet or Asian predatory wasp is working its way across Europe and was first sighted in the UK in September 2016 where a nest was destroyed. The latest sighting was on 18th September 2017 in Devon Read more

​ Xesus Feas has many ideas in preventing the spread of the Vespa velutina (VV) One of them is by trapping the Vespa velutina queen (VVQ) as by doing this, we could possibly hope to stop the full cycle and development of the future colony. He recently developed and tested in his lab a specific toxic bait for velutina, that he named “velucida” and  during 2017 he successfully tested a range of different commercial traps available on the market from PCP designed to catch the Vespa velutina with promising results. These results will be published soon. 

Asian Hornet traps tested

View or download Asian hornet ID sheets

 The Asian Hornet Vespa velutina - National Inventory of Natural Heritage. In: National Museum of Natural History [Ed]. Website. http://frelonasiatique.mnhn.fr

Undressing the Asian hornet: looking at the anatomy of Vespa velutina as never seen before.

The use of the microscope opens up a whole new dimension in science. Using Micro computed tomography or "micro-CT" you can see the very fine scale internal structure of Vespa velutina.

How to report a sighting 

Any sightings of the Asian hornet or nests should be reported immediately. If you see a Vespa velutina Asian hornet - REPORT IT. Most countries have a different protocol for reporting sightings of the hornet. You can find out how to report a sighting in each country on our report a sighting page ​
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​International seminar on the Vespa velutina entitled:
Vespa asiática (V. Velutina nigrithorax): an exotic predator in Europe.
What does the future hold?

Video observing the Asian Hornet

Video of the Asian Hornet attacking bees
Looking at the footage you can see just how belligerent the Vespa velutina can be at dominating and taking over a honey bees nest by killing the bees. Given the statistics of their fast spread throughout the World provided by CABI the (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International) It's clear to see that they pose an obvious danger and threat to the existence of bees. Xesús Feás is keen to provide more research, enabling us to understand the species better and has many interesting ideas in possible ways to help control or prevent their spread.  Click here to see a data sheet of the findings from CABI on the invasive Vespa velutina

Xesus Feas's findings show that the Camellia plant is a good starting point to set a selective trap to capture the VVQ.
​In Galicia, Northern Spain where Xesus currently resides and has been researching the Vespa velutina frequently visits the Camellia plant when flowering. Furthermore, the VVQ uses the Camellia plant for nesting purposes.
Xesus Feas also feels that It is necessary to establish in future a trapping program for VVQ directly with Camellia producers. At the same time, exportation of Camellia plants could be a way to spread VVQ. And for this very reason, this issue should be researched.  IF YOU HAVE SPOTTED VV please contact us
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