# Invasive Asian hornets ‘preying on’ hundreds of native insect species in Europe

**PA Media**

Tue 4 Mar 2025 08.22 EST  
First published on Tue 4 Mar 2025 08.46 EST

## Invasive Asian hornets are eating hundreds of different species of insects in Europe

Researchers at University of Exeter warn many of the hunted species are important crop pollinators.

The findings, from tests of the guts of more than 1,500 larvae, raise new concerns over the “extra threat” the hornet poses to native insects already under pressure from farming, changes in land use and chemical pollution.

The study also highlights the potential impact on agriculture, with 43 of the 50 most commonly identified species in the hornet larvae’s diet known to visit flowers – including Europe’s three main crop pollinators.

The Asian hornet, or yellow-legged hornet, a voracious invasive, is native to south-east Asia. It arrived in France in a cargo of pottery from China about 20 years ago and spread rapidly across the continent.

Its main prey is honeybees. The Asian hornet can kill 50 bees a day and has devastated colonies in France and Italy.

It was first seen in the UK in 2016, and there have been regular sightings since, including 44 confirmed in 2024 – largely in Kent and East Sussex.

The researchers from the University of Exeter carried out genetic analysis in a method called “deep sequencing” to identify prey species in the guts of more than 1,500 hornet larvae from 103 nests in Jersey, France, Spain and the UK.

The study also highlights the potential impact on agriculture, with 43 of the 50 most commonly identified species in the hornet larvae’s diet known to visit flowers – including Europe’s three main crop pollinators.

The Asian hornet, or yellow-legged hornet, a voracious invasive, is native to south-east Asia. It arrived in France in a cargo of pottery from China about 20 years ago and spread rapidly across the continent.

Its main prey is honeybees. The Asian hornet can kill 50 bees a day and has devastated colonies in France and Italy.

It was first seen in the UK in 2016, and there have been regular sightings since, including 44 confirmed in 2024 – largely in Kent and East Sussex.
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