Nuacht
First ever Irish nest of the Asian Hornet located
The Asian Hornet Management Group, chaired by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) with support from the National Museum of Ireland, have successfully located the first ever Irish nest of the Asian Hornet. Dr Aidan O’Hanlon, Curator of Entomology at the National Museum of Ireland, was part of the team that discovered the first hornet specimens in Cork earlier this month.
Since this initial discovery, Dr O’Hanlon has been helping the National Parks and Wildlife Service rangers on-site in their efforts to monitor and ultimately track down the hornet’s nest. He also partnered with the National Biodiversity Data Centre, combining their citizen science data and the Museum’s entomology collections to produce identification resources to help the public recognise the Asian Hornet.
The discovery of this nest is an important win for biodiversity conservation in Ireland. Members of the public are encouraged to stay vigilant and report any suspected sightings through the National Biodiversity Data Centre https://invasives.ie/species-alerts/asian-hornet/