Yellow-legged Asian Hornets

What is the Problem?

Yellow-legged Asian hornets prey on honeybee colonies. They hover outside a hive entrance, waiting for returning foragers. When they catch a returning bee, they will take it away and feed off of the protein rich thorax; the animal proteins are transformed into flesh pellets and then offered to the larvae.
They can cause significant losses to honeybee colonies, and potentially other native species.

What do they look like?

The Yellow-legged Asian hornet is slightly smaller than our native European hornet. It's abdomen is mostly black except for it's fourth abdominal segment which is a yellow band located towards the rear. It has yellow legs and it's face is orange with brownish red eyes.

Click here for a comparison with our native European Hornet

What should I do if I see one?

and locally

What can I do to stop them?

Further Information