A non-native species of hornet has been making the news this month. The UK Government and several nature conservation organisations are concerned about the impact of the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) because it is a voracious predator of bees which, as major pollinators, are an essential component of well-functioning ecosystems. The public is being asked to report all sightings of the Asian hornet online with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology .

The Asian hornet hails from East Asia and was inadvertently brought to France in 2004. It spread rapidly across France and has now reached the UK. In France, it has consumed large numbers of bees, including honey bees and many solitary and colonial bee species.

The UK government publishes sightings online: I see Asian hornets have been spotted so far this year in Kent, East Sussex and East London. It’s likely they’ll reach Surrey soon.

Hornets are a larger relative of the wasp and we have one native species, the European hornet (Vespa crabro) which looks fearsome but it is actually much less aggressive than the common wasp.

It’s easy to tell the Asian hornet apart from the European hornet. Viewed from above, Asian hornets have a primarily dark abdomen, whereas European hornets have thick yellow bands across their whole abdomen.

The Asian hornet has bright yellow leg tips compared to the European’s brown legs. The Asian hornet is also smaller, generally between 20-24mm (only slightly larger than the common wasp) while the European hornet measures 25mm.

You can report your sightings of the Asian hornet here: https://tinyurl.com/asian-hornet-report.

READERS JOIN IN STAG HUNT

Readers have emailed with their sightings of stag beetles in response to my article about these magnificent insects in the 6 June issue.

Janet Stevens in Bisley sent us this photo of a male stag beetle. She explained: “I was sitting in my garden when it landed on me! I very carefully lowered it on to a shrub.”

Janet added that she reported her sighting at the Great Stag Hunt website (stagbeetles.ptes.org).

Dawn Hall of Twiggs Close, Woking, emailed to say she saw two females, the first near the car garage in Wych Hill, the second beside the grass verge at the top of Triggs Lane. Dawn said: “Both looked pretty healthy and in good condition.”

Joyce Twiston Davies, who lives just off Shaftesbury Avenue in Bisley, told us she has many stag beetle larvae.

She said: “My aeonium was failing so I emptied the pot and removed 21 larvae. I have placed them in a large pot of compost topped with decaying wood. Since then I have located more in another pot.”

Joyce added that she lives where there is mixed woodland with many oaks, which is interesting because although the larvae eat decaying wood of many broad-leaved species, they especially like oak trees. They tend to avoid fir, pine and coniferous species.

Stag beetles are becoming scarce throughout northern Europe due to habitat loss. Females are 30–50mm long while males are half as big again, up to 70mm including their spectacular “antlers”.

The creatures spend from three to seven years underground as larvae, chomping on dead wood which is their only food. When they have grown sufficiently they emerge as adult insects whose sole purpose is to mate and, in the case of females, lay eggs. They survive as adult insects for a few weeks at most.