As the eradication response effort on Auckland’s North Shore continues to accelerate, radio tracking technology has enabled the detection of ten yellow-legged hornet nests.

Biosecurity New Zealand’s Commissioner North, Mike Inglis, says the technique - attaching tiny radio transmitters to worker hornets and tracking them back to their nests - has quickly become a core tool in the response programme.

“Our capability with the equipment is growing rapidly, helped by practical advice from visiting experts in hornet management from the United Kingdom,” Mr Inglis says.

“Once we have a transmitter attached to a hornet, we are typically locating the nest within a few hours.

“The trackers, which complement on-the-ground surveillance and public notifications, will become increasingly useful as summer progresses and hornets begin building larger secondary nests high up in trees where they’re less visible to ground searchers.

“We have located three secondary nests so far and after comprehensive planning, have successfully treated and removed them. 

“We always expected to find increasing numbers of hornets, and we have scaled up our surveillance and tracking programme accordingly. Finding hornets and their nests is a sign that our response is working as intended.”

Using tracking, trapping and ground surveillance, along with public notifications, the team has located and destroyed 49 queens, 51 nests and hundreds of workers to date.

A network of more than 1,080 traps is operating. The zones reflect the density of traps and there have been no detections outside the 11km area.

“Public support continues to be vital to our response, with more than 11,060 notifications to date. We encourage anyone who has a suspected hornet specimen, has located a possible nest, or has taken a clear photo to report it to us online at report.mpi.govt.nz or by calling 0800 80 99 66,” Mr Inglis says.