Asian hornets will soon be found all across a state in central Germany, experts have predicted.
The invasive species, which kills and eats other insects including bees, has quickly spread in Europe after being accidentally shipped to the continent from China 20 years ago. Ten years later, in 2014, Asian hornets were discovered in Germany for the first time.
Now an experienced biologist warned that the predatory insect will have spread all over Hesse in the foreseeable future.
Dr Berthold Langenhorst from the environmental organisation NABU explained: “It will soon be present everywhere in Hesse.”
Speaking to the Bild newspaper, Dr Langenhorst explained: “Our solitary bees and bumblebees are already endangered due to other factors. Now a major other threat has been added.“
The states of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Baden-Württemberg are currently most affected by Asian hornet infestations. The number of Asian hornet sightings in Germany has never been higher than in 2023.
Between January and October 2023, experts registered 70 nests of the species also known as Vespa velutina nigrithorax. In the whole previous year, only 10 nests had been recorded.
Dr Langenhorst said Asian hornets were not more dangerous for humans than native hornets or wasps. But he warned: “If they consider their nest under threat, Asian hornets react more aggressively than domestic types.”
Asian hornets build their nests in a large variety of locations including trees and abandoned buildings.
These nests have the potential to produce up to 350 queens, according to Oliver Wieckhorst from NABU’s Hamburg branch. He emphasised: “In the following year, these queens create new nests.”
