In line with the findings of these reports, NIEA staff and their wider DAERA, CAFRE and AFBI colleagues will be monitoring for the possibility of emerging queens over the coming months.
AFBI publish their Vespa velutina nest dissection report from Dundonald in October 2025.
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 “Overall, the caste composition indicates that the nest was in the early reproductive stage when it was taken down.”
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Fera Science Ltd (formerly the Food and Environment Research Agency) have published a report on the genetic analysis of Asian Hornet nests found in both Ireland and Northern Ireland during 2025.
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The aims of the analysis were:
Aim 1: To understand the origin of the Irish nests, namely whether they derive from the secondary invasive population present in Europe, or whether they are independent arrivals from elsewhere (likely Asia).
Aim 2: To understand the relatedness of any recovered individual ‘lone’ hornets from Cork, Cobh or Belfast to the recovered nests, i.e. to understand whether all the lone hornets found locally derive from the nearby nest; if they do not, this is a strong indication that these individuals are from a different nest(s) that were not detected locally.
Aim 3: To ensure that the genetic data is appropriately stored to freely inform future research on this species either in Ireland or internationally.
Aim 4: To understand whether the nests were destroyed before they had moved into the reproductive phase, i.e. whether the queens of the nests had started laying haploid drones and at which life stage.
Aim 5: To understand if any other genetic effects were present in the nest, such as: diploid (sterile) males; triploid individuals; the presence of worker laying. Diploid drones are the likely result of an error in the sex-determining mechanism, made more common by low population genetic diversity and inbreeding.
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