Yellow-legged hornets in Auckland

Risk to New Zealand from hornets

The yellow-legged hornet is a biosecurity concern due to its potential impact on honeybee and wild bee populations.

It primarily feeds on bees, wasps, and flies. It may compete with native insects and birds for food, and it has a painful sting.

About the hornets found in Auckland and our response

Yellow-legged hornets have only been detected in Auckland. We believe it’s unlikely they are present outside this area. However, Biosecurity New Zealand is closely monitoring the situation and is encouraging people to remain vigilant and report any suspected hornet or nest sightings.

A Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is supporting the response. Its members are a mix of national and international experts, many of whom have direct operational experience dealing with the yellow-legged hornet in areas it has been present in Europe.

The group's recommendations are shaping Biosecurity New Zealand’s ongoing strategy.

Key actions include: 

• setting up a surveillance zone out to 11 km from hornet detections containing protein and carbohydrate traps and feed stations, to locate hornets to track to nests
• working closely with more beekeepers for enhanced surveillance around hives – over 575 registered apiaries within the 11 km zone
• deploying a field workforce of 50 plus staff per day increasing staff on the ground to accelerate detection and removal
• using advanced radio tracking technology from the Netherlands to trace hornets back to their nests
• hosting specialists from the UK’s hornet response team to train staff and advise on programme delivery.

Hornet trap locations and detection area

Trap locations as of 23 February 2026 (yellow dots). All queen yellow-legged hornets have been found in Zone A (red circles) – a 1km buffer around detections

Download the map to print it [JPG, 3.8 MB]

How you can help

The best surveillance tool we have right now is for people to report any sightings of suspected hornets or hornet nests.

When looking for hornets and their nests, check common nesting areas such as under roof eaves of your house, sheltered entrances, wooden structures, carports, under wooden decks, sheds, and outbuildings. Larger, secondary nests are typically high in trees.

Also check your boat, caravan, or campervan before heading away with them to avoid moving nests around. When gardening, look out for signs of hornet activity and take care not to disturb their nests.  

Video: Learn where to look for yellow-legged hornet nests – YouTube (1.45)

If you think you've found a nest

Don’t attempt to remove or control a suspected hornet nest yourself, or spray a hornet or nest with insecticide. It is very important for Biosecurity New Zealand to know where the hornets are active. Any attempt to control them risks pushing them away, making it difficult to find them.

We appreciate that taking photos can be hard, as the hornets are strong flyers, but images are the best method for us to assess the valuable observations made by the public.

If you think you have found a hornet or its nest, take a clear photo and report it:

• by calling our exotic pest and disease hotline on 0800 809 966
• by emailing us at info@mpi.govt.nz
• online at report.mpi.govt.nz – if you use this method, ensure that you select the 'suspected yellow-legged hornet’ option from the dropdown list.

Homemade traps

We know many people want to help by setting their own traps. These may be effective in attracting hornets and other flying insects, but significant bycatch of other insects should be expected. 

We have created some easy-to-follow instructions for building a simple homemade trap.

How to make a homemade hornet trap – Fact sheet [PDF, 833 KB]

A suggested bait formula to add to your trap is 400 g of sugar, 10 g of yeast, and 1 litre of water. You can also add 100 ml of beer to this mixture.

We recommend you change this bait every 3 weeks.

It is important to closely monitor any homemade trap – check them at least once a week. It helps to be familiar with local wasp species that are not a concern in this response.

Know the difference between hornets and common wasps

From left to right, biggest to smallest: 1 Yellow-legged hornet, 2 German wasp, 3 Asian paper wasp, 4 Australian paper wasp.

If you make and install a homemade trap and believe you have caught a hornet, take a clear photograph and report it online or by calling 0800 809 966. Do not handle live hornets.