David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital
Video Images
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Hymenoptera 29 - Asian Hornets
ASIAN HORNET Vespa velutina
ASIAN HORNET Vespa velutina
ASIAN HORNET Vespa velutina
ASIAN HORNET Vespa velutina
ASIAN HORNET Vespa velutina
ASIAN
HORNET Vespa velutina
·
Warnings
have been issued by DEFRA explaining
the actions that will need to be taken following the recent discovery of
invasive Asian Hornets Vespa velutina
in the UK as they are perceived to pose a significant threat to Honey Bees Apis mellifera. It
is believed that modifications to the slit-widths of French bee-hives may have
offered some security for the bees but this will not protect them once that
have emerged from the security of their hives. Whether the arrival of these
large and reportedly aggressive wasps will prove to cause more damage to the
Honey Bee population than the many other existing threats, both natural (e.g.
predation by Bee-wolf Philanthus triangulum, European Hornet Vespa crabro) or
anthropogenic (e.g. insecticides and other chemicals used for agriculture that
pose a threat on a much larger scale and often in an insidious manner) remains to be seen but it would seem
unlikely. Any sightings of nests or the
wasps themselves will need to be reported to: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-app-to-report-asian-hornet-sightings. Although it has proven possible to
intercept and destroy all the reported Asian Hornets at the time of writing
(2019) it is almost inevitable that they will become established, and likely
that their eventual range will be determined not by control measures but by the
climate. The invasion of the UK by another Asian insect (the Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis) has proven to be
catastrophic for those native ladybird species that have been unable to compete
so it is quite understandable why damage-limitation is being attempted in this
case. There is also the interesting conundrum about the potential arrival of
the Bee-eater Meriops apiaster as a permanent breeding
species in the UK. Their arrival would be popular and welcomed by bird-watchers
but probably not by apiculturists. In fact Asian Hornets eat a variety of other
foods, and they demonstrated a fondness for over-ripe apples in Portugal where most
of these photographs were taken (the in-flight image was taken in France) – and
Bee-eaters eat many other insects apart from bees (and their menu almost
certainly includes Asian Hornets)!
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