Deadly hornet seen in Wilmslow

An insect feared to be a deadly Asian hornet was seen in a Wilmslow garden this afternoon.

The large hornet, measuring 2 inches, was spotted by Jason Fennessey as he had lunch in his garden on Cumber Lane.

Jason explained “It landed on our fence as we were eating lunch outside in the sunshine. I looked at it and immediately said to Rachael ‘what the hell is that!’ it made quite a noise as it flew past us and landed on the garden fence. It’s pretty scary looking and as you could see by the picture is pretty distinctive.

“It flew away after we had taken a picture to post on facebook to see if anyone knew what it was however i jumped on Google typed in ‘hornet’ and quickly found out what it was and reported it on the ‘non native species’ website.”

This south-east Asian species of wasp was first recorded in France in 2005 and is thought to have arrived in a container of pottery from China before 2004 through the port of Bordeaux.

Since 2005 they have spread rapidly in France, where they have been blamed for the death of six people, and are feared to be heading across the channel into the UK according to a House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee report on Invasive non-native species.

Anyone who thinks they have spotted an Asian hornet is asked to report it on the Non Native Species website.

Source and image: wilmslow.co.uk