Guidance
Laboratory confirmed sightings of yellow-legged hornet (also known as Asian hornet) since 2016
Updated 27 March 2025
漏 Crown copyright 2025
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You can report sightings of the yellow-legged hornet using the .
For help identifying yellow-legged hornets, see the .
This page lists the confirmed sightings of yellow-legged hornet in the UK each year.
Sightings are considered confirmed when a specimen has been analysed by an official laboratory with a positive outcome.
There have been 2 confirmed sightings of yellow-legged hornet in the UK in 2025.
There have been a total of 147 confirmed sightings of yellow-legged hornet since 2016. This figure includes a total of 110 nests, all of which were destroyed.
2025: confirmed sightings
Confirmed sightings in March
- Canterbury, Kent: 20 March 鈥� single hornet captured
Confirmed sightings in January
- Oswestry, Shropshire: 24 January 鈥� single hornet captured
2024: confirmed sightings
Confirmed sightings in November
- Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex: 12 November 鈥� nest destroyed
- South Alkham, Kent: 1 November 鈥� nest destroyed
- Udimore, East Sussex: 1 November 鈥� nest destroyed
Confirmed sightings in October
- Coldred, Kent: 25 October 鈥� nest destroyed
- Great Maxfield, East Sussex: 16 October 鈥� nest destroyed
Confirmed sightings in September
- Great Maxfield, East Sussex: 26 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Southampton, Hampshire: 24 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Rye Harbour, East Sussex: 9 September 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Ardingly, West Sussex: 9 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Lydd, Folkestone & Hythe, Kent: 8 September 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Dymchurch, Kent: 5 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Baldslow, East Sussex: 3 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Elham, Kent: 3 September 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Goodnestone, Kent: 3 September 鈥� nest destroyed
Confirmed sightings in August
- Temple Ewell, Kent: 30 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Lydden, Kent: 27 August 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Alkham, Kent: 27 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Ramsgate, Kent: 22 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Great Maxfield, East Sussex: 2 August 鈥� nest destroyed
Confirmed sightings in July
- Barham, Kent: 4 July 鈥� single hornet captured
Confirmed sightings in June
- Four Oaks, East Sussex: 6 June 鈥� single hornet captured
- Martin鈥檚 Mill, Kent: 4 June 鈥� single hornet captured
Confirmed sightings in May
- Martin鈥檚 Mill, Kent: 30 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Four Oaks, East Sussex: 30 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Etchinghill, Kent: 30 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- St Margarets Bay, Kent: 24 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Canterbury, Kent: 24 May 鈥� nest destroyed
- Four Oaks, East Sussex: 22 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Alkham, Kent: 22 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Four Oaks, East Sussex: 21 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Etchinghill, Kent: 17 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Denton, Kent: 17 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Four Oaks, East Sussex: 13 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Four Oaks, East Sussex: 13 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Lympne, Kent: 10 May 鈥� single hornet captured
Confirmed sightings in April
- Four Oaks, East Sussex: 25 April 鈥� single hornet captured
- Four Oaks, East Sussex: 24 April 鈥� single hornet captured
- Four Oaks, East Sussex: 16 April 鈥� single hornet captured
Confirmed sightings in March
- Romford, East London: 27 March 鈥� single hornet captured
- Ash, Kent: 11 March 鈥� single hornet captured
2023: confirmed sightings
Confirmed sightings in November
- Rye, East Sussex: 15 November 鈥� nest destroyed
- Tenterden, Kent: 1 November 鈥� nest destroyed
Confirmed sightings in October
- Folkestone, Kent: 27 October 鈥� nest destroyed
- Canterbury, Kent: 24 October 鈥� nest destroyed
- Dover, Kent: 17 October 鈥� nest destroyed
- Folkestone, Kent: 17 October 鈥� nest destroyed
- Ashford, Kent: 12 October 鈥� nest destroyed
- Deal, Kent: 4 October
- Canterbury, Kent: 4 October 鈥� nest destroyed
Confirmed sightings in September
- Southampton, Hampshire: 29 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Dover, Kent: 27 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Oxted, Surrey: 26 September 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Yarm, North Yorkshire: 25 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Hackney, London: 22 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Eastbourne, East Sussex: 20 September 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Tenterden, Kent: 18 September 鈥� nest destroyed聽
- Southampton, Hampshire: 15 September 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Lower Herne, Kent: 15 September 鈥� nest destroyed聽
- Deal, Kent: 15 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Hull, Yorkshire: 15 September 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Hastings, East Sussex: 15 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Folkestone, Kent: 15 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Southend on Sea, Essex: 14 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Dover, Kent: 4 September 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Dover, Kent: 1 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Folkestone, Kent: 1 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- West Downs, Kent: 1 September 鈥� nest destroyed
Confirmed sightings in August
- Canterbury, Kent: 26 August 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Rochester, Kent: 25 August 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Thamesmead, London: 22 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Maidstone, Kent: 22 August 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Dover, Kent: 22 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent: 21 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Folkestone, Kent: 16 August 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Maidstone, Kent: 15 August 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Newhaven, East Sussex: 15 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Deal, Kent: 14 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Folkestone, Kent: 14 August 鈥� (2 separate sightings) 4 nests destroyed
- Folkestone, Kent: 11 August 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Folkestone, Kent: 10 August 鈥� 7 nests destroyed
- Folkestone, Kent: 9 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Maidstone, Kent: 7 August 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Portland, Dorset: 7 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Deal, Kent: 6 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Folkestone, Kent: 4 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Portland, Dorset: 4 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Whitstable, Kent: 3 August 鈥� nest destroyed
- Deal, Kent: 2 August 鈥� nest destroyed
Confirmed sightings in July
- Plymouth, Devon: 27 July 鈥� 2 nests destroyed
- Dover, Kent: 26 July 鈥� single hornet captured
- Gravesend, Kent: 24 July 鈥� nest destroyed
- Shepherdswell, Kent: 5 July 鈥� nest destroyed
Confirmed sightings in June
- Deal, Kent: 28 June 鈥� nest destroyed
Confirmed sightings in May
- Canterbury, Kent: 31 May 鈥� single hornet captured
- Ashford, Kent: 23 May 鈥� single hornet captured
Confirmed sightings in April
- Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland: 11 April 鈥� single hornet captured
2022: confirmed sightings
- Rayleigh, Essex: 27 September 鈥� nest destroyed on 30 September
- Felixstowe, Suffolk: 29 April 鈥� single hornet captured
2021: confirmed sightings
- Portsmouth, Hampshire: 29 October 鈥� nest destroyed on 31 October
- Ascot, Berkshire: 8 October 鈥� nest destroyed on 11 October
2020: confirmed sightings
- Gosport, Hampshire: 8 September 鈥� nest destroyed on 11 September
2019: confirmed sightings
- Christchurch, Dorset: 10 October 鈥� nest destroyed
- Christchurch, Dorset: 1 October 鈥� nest destroyed
- Ashford, Kent: 9 September 鈥� single hornet captured
- Tamworth area, Staffordshire: 2 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- New Milton, Hampshire: 3 July 鈥� single hornet captured
2018: confirmed sightings
- Dungeness, Kent: 15 October 鈥� single hornet captured
- Guildford, Surrey: 28 September 鈥� single dead hornet
- Brockenhurst, Hampshire: 26 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- New Alresford, Hampshire: 24 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Fowey, Cornwall: 20 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Hull, Yorkshire: 9 September 鈥� single dead hornet
- Liskeard, Cornwall: 7 September 鈥� single dead hornet
- Fowey, Cornwall: 3 September 鈥� nest destroyed
- Bury, Lancashire: 13 April 鈥� single hornet sighted with photograph
2017: confirmed sightings
- Woolacombe, Devon: 26 September 鈥� nest destroyed
2016: confirmed sightings
- Bath, Somerset: 13 October 鈥� single hornet captured
- Lower Langford, Somerset: 30 September 鈥� single hornet captured
- Tetbury, Gloucestershire: 19 September 鈥� nest destroyed