So far 93 queens have been discovered – already surpassing the previous record of 69 found during the whole of 2019. Of this year’s sightings, 46 were caught in monitored traps while 47 were reported by members of the public.
Alastair Christie, Jersey’s Asian hornet co-ordinator – who is leading the fight against the invasive species – said it was not yet clear why the insects were appearing in greater numbers, but added that the statistics ‘show that the traps are working’.
‘We do believe that they are programmed to emerge from hibernation over an extended period of time. The obvious concern is that the numbers are high, but I continue to hope that we are catching a high proportion of the queens. However, we will not know for sure until we start getting more worker [hornet] reports,’ he said.
The Asian hornet volunteer team has started to set up traps in advance of the tracking season – when worker hornets are followed back to their nests – and last Wednesday held its first ‘review and strategy’ meeting, which was led by Mr Christie.
He said: ‘One of the things that came to the fore was that we need to prepare for a busy season.’ He added that a recent presentation by the group – at the Early Summer Flower Show in the Royal Jersey Showground – had garnered interest from a dozen potential recruits.
‘When worker hornets are in greater numbers we will be inviting more volunteers to step forward,’ Mr Christie said.
Islanders are being encouraged to check their sheds, garages and other outdoor areas for nests, and to report any sightings of an Asian hornet by emailing asianhornet@gov.je, attaching a photo if possible. The species can be identified by their darker colour, a yellow/orange band across their lower end, a bright pale-yellow belt at the waist and the yellow lower half of their legs. Mr Christie can be contacted on 441633.
