Source: NZ Ministry for Primary Industries
Biosecurity New Zealand is encouraging Kiwis to continue to keep an eye out for yellow-legged hornets (Vespa velutina) over the holiday season.
“We’ve had a great response from the public so far, with more than 6,870 notifications and our team will be working over the holiday season as we continue to track and eradicate the hornet,” says Mike Inglis, Biosecurity New Zealand commissioner north.
To date, we have found 38 queen hornets, and 25 of those hornets have been found with nests.
“Our intensive ground surveillance work and operations across Auckland’s North Shore to find hornet nests has been working well with more than 6,540 ground surveys completed, and that will continue as we move through summer.
“Based on overseas experience, the science tells us that we may find more hornets over in the next few months and we’re prepared for that,” says Mr Inglis.
“We now have more than 780 traps in place out to 11km from where the hornets were found in Glenfield and Birkdale. The international experts guiding our response are providing the most up-to-date advice and information about the hornet and that is feeding into our work.”
Mr Inglis said next month, with the help of visiting hornet experts from the United Kingdom, Biosecurity New Zealand will look to attach advanced trackers to hornets so they can be traced back to nests. Short footage of the trackers being trialled can be seen here.
Video: Hornet tracking trial (0.40) – Youtube
“As the weather continues to warm, hornets can start to make bigger nests high up in trees and this technology from the Netherlands will help us find and destroy them alongside our continuing surveillance work on the ground.
“If the public can continue to keep an eye while they are enjoying their Christmas break, that will help the work we are doing,” says Mr Inglis.
“We’ll continue to adapt our work to what we see over the summer in line with our Technical Advisory Group’s advice. The TAG draws on the expertise from New Zealand scientists and our overseas colleagues with extensive first-hand experience of the hornet.”
Biosecurity New Zealand wants to hear from anyone who has a suspected hornet specimen, has located a possible nest, or has taken a clear photo.
You can report sightings:
- by calling our exotic pest and disease hotline on 0800 809 966
- by emailing us at info@mpi.govt.nz
- online at report.mpi.govt.nz – if you use this method, ensure that you select the ‘plants, spiders or insects’ option from the dropdown list.
These detections have given us a good indication of where the hornets may be, so give your location when making reports.
Further information and updates on hornet finds
For more information, email: BiosecurityNZ_media@mpi.govt.nz
For further information and general enquiries, call MPI on 0800 008 333 or email info@mpi.govt.nz
For media enquiries, contact the media team on 029 894 0328.
