Seven queen yellow-legged hornets found in Auckland so far

Seven queen yellow-legged hornets have so far been found in Auckland as efforts ramp up to track others down.

The predator hornets are a danger to local honey and wild bees.

The first was found in Glenfield last month and was the first time a queen has been found here.

The Ministry for Primary Industries says it’s stepping up the number of people on the ground.

“This week we introduced additional teams to methodically check common nesting areas close to where hornets have been detected in Glenfield and Birkdale,” Biosecurity New Zealand north commissioner Mike Inglis said.

“We are stepping up our numbers on the ground to widen the search as required, and have more than 20 focused on enhanced searches and more than 100 staff across MPI involved in this response,” he said.

Traps are being checked each day, but so far no hornets have been found in them.

Five of the seven queens showed evidence of nesting.

MPI said its response included:

Setting more than 180 traps in targeted areas where females have been found. Every trap is checked daily. No hornets have been found in traps to date. Additional traps are being added in areas where queen hornets are found, so the number of traps will continue to increase.
Introducing protein bait traps alongside existing traps.
Establishing a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of independent scientific experts with expertise in the biology, ecology, and management of social wasps. The TAG has been considering options for ongoing work.

Encouraging public surveillance, including sending staff into the community to raise awareness. This weekend, staff will again be at local markets to share information about the hornet.

The public are begin urged to report suspected hornets or nests but only if they have a specimen, or a clear photo, or have spotted a possible nest.