Asian hornet likely to have become established in UK, say experts | Invasive species
Asian hornet likely to have become established in UK, say experts | Invasive species
Sharp rise in sightings of the invasive species this year prompts fears for native bees on which they prey
how come i didn’t get to vote on this
9This is the best summary I could come up with:
The bumblebee conservation expert Dave Goulson, a professor of biology at the University of Sussex, said he feared it was likely the hornets had become established in Kent.
He told the Guardian: “It is a bit too early to say for sure but the situation looks ominous, with a record nine nests found and destroyed this year so far.
Goulson added: “The arrival of Asian hornets would provide a significant new threat to insect populations that are already much reduced due to the many other pressures they face, such as habitat loss, pesticide use and so on.”
Matt Shardlow, the chief executive of the insect charity Buglife, agreed with Goulson, saying: “With four new Asian hornet nests being detected in the last week and a strong cluster in coastal Kent it seems likely that the species has colonised England.
The Asian hornet is a risk to biodiversity; in particular it can hunt large numbers of wild solitary bee species.
Nicola Spence, the chief plant and bee health officer at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “Evidence from previous years suggested that all 13 Asian hornet nests found in the UK between 2016 and 2022 were separate incursions and there is nothing to suggest that Asian hornets are established in the UK.
The original article contains 748 words, the summary contains 214 words. Saved 71%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
7Caelid leaking into Limburg.
4Yay climate change!
1I don't think that the factor here is climate change, but rather shipping stuff around the world and a few hitching a ride.
We apparently had some make it to the US recently, too.
Most likely, one or two fertile queen hornets entered Canada via shipping packaging and created the colony that was discovered in 2019.
It’s easy for invasive species to travel this way. More than 19,000 cargo containers arrive daily at U.S. ports, and inspectors can only do random searches of shipping containers. One estimate suggests that just 2% of shipments are searched for evidence of invasive species. Many harmful organisms such as plant pests are intercepted, but some do get through.
2They are known to hitch rides in pot plant soil. The EU has banned import of pot plant soil originating from the UK for this reason.
There is an established population in France. Have we reciprocally banned the import of pot plant soil from France? Of course not.
https://www.bali.org.uk/news/import-controls-on-plants-and-plant-products-postponed-to-2023/
Biosecurity is overseen by DEFRA. How well has DEFRA been funded under Tory austerity?
Defra hit by largest budget cuts of any UK government department, analysis shows
Economists at the RSPB say that this will translate into a cut of 57% in real terms since the Conservatives came into power, once inflation has been taken into account.
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