Following the confirmation of the first confirmed sighting of a hornet in the United Kingdom on March 11, Paul Hetherington, director of communications and engagement at the Buglife charity, made the following statement.
Conservationists have warned that Asian hornets may have established themselves in the UK as a result of the sighting.
The length of the flying insects is around 25 mm, and the length of the queens is about 30 mm. Their legs have yellow tips, which sets them apart from European hornets, and their abdomens are primarily black.
They feed on a variety of insects, including bumblebees and honeybees.
Mr. Hetherington describes this year’s sighting as “extremely worrying” because it is the earliest sighting of them since they were first seen in the UK in 2016.
“An adult Asian hornet can eat roughly 50 honeybees a day; that translates to an entire nest of bumblebees for one hornet,” he claimed in an interview with Sarah-Jane Mee on News.
