Think you've seen a yellow-legged hornet?

The yellow-legged (Asian) hornet is a serious threat to honey bees and other pollinators. If you spot one in the Vale of the White Horse, reporting it quickly makes all the difference. Here's how to recognise it, report it, and help us track it.

How to report it Is it a yellow-legged hornet?

A yellow-legged (Asian) hornet feeding on ivy flowers — The yellow-legged hornet — this is what we're watching for.

Report a sighting

Seen one? Report it — it only takes a minute

If you can, take a photo first (from a safe distance) — a picture lets it be confirmed quickly. Then report it any of these ways:

The Asian Hornet Watch app

Free for iPhone and Android — the fastest way to report, with your location attached. Search "Asian Hornet Watch" in your app store.

Report online

Use the online recording form run by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology at ceh.ac.uk/asian-hornet.

By email

Send a photo and where you saw it to alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk.

Tell us too Please also let our local Asian Hornet Action Team know, so we can help track and respond locally — contact details are below. PLACEHOLDER: add local reporting phone/email if you'd like sightings to reach the team directly.

Identification

Is it actually a yellow-legged hornet?

It's often confused with our harmless native European hornet and with common wasps. Here's what to look for — and when in doubt, photograph it and report it anyway.

Yellow-legged hornet, side view, with key identification features labelled: dark thorax, dark abdomen, yellow leg tips, worker up to 25mm — A worker yellow-legged hornet, with the key features labelled. **This is the one to report.**

Not to be confused with

European hornet, side view, showing yellow-and-brown abdomen and reddish-brown thorax

European hornet (native — harmless)

Larger (up to ~35mm), with a mostly yellow and brown abdomen and a browner thorax. Our native hornet — leave it be.

Common wasp

Much smaller and brighter yellow, with a smooth body and a narrow waist. Not a hornet.

For a definitive check, compare with the photographs on the National Bee Unit site.

If you find a nest

Found a nest? Don't approach it

Nests are often high in trees but can be in hedges, sheds or buildings. Primary nests appear in spring; larger secondary nests form from mid-summer.

Large secondary nest of the yellow-legged hornet high in a tree, teardrop-shaped and papery — A large secondary nest, high in a tree. Never approach or disturb one — report it.

Do not try to remove or disturb a nest yourself Report it (as above) with the location. Confirmed nests are dealt with by trained operators arranged through the National Bee Unit — it's free, and it's their job, not yours. Keep children and pets clear.

Monitoring & trapping

Helping to catch it early

Early detection is everything — the sooner a hornet or nest is found, the easier it is to deal with.

Spring queen monitoring. Monitoring traps in spring can catch founding queens before they build. Use a design that lets other insects escape to reduce by-catch — see the National Bee Unit's guidance.
Autumn vigilance at the apiary. From late summer, watch hive entrances for hornets "hawking" — hovering to snatch returning foragers. This is the peak season.
Know what to do. If you catch or photograph a suspect, report it before assuming it's a native species.

National Bee Unit — monitoring & trapping guidance →

Our response

The Vale & Downland Asian Hornet Action Team

We have a local team ready to help members and the public identify, report and respond to sightings across our area — part of the national effort to keep the yellow-legged hornet from establishing.

Coordinator

PLACEHOLDER: Simon [surname], Asian Hornet Action Team Coordinator — email / phone.

Get involved

Members can join the monitoring effort — set a spring trap, keep watch at your apiary, and know how to report. PLACEHOLDER: how to sign up / who to contact.

The current picture

Where things stand

The national situation changes through the season, so rather than repeat figures that quickly go out of date, we point you to the official live tracker.

National Bee Unit — latest confirmed sightings & nests (rolling update) →