The Asian hornet arrived in Galicia (NW Spain) in 2012, and since then it has expanded and spread, becoming very common and highly visible. It is particularly attracted to the sap of recently cut pine and eucalyptus logs, the latter being, ironically, another non-native species. I witnessed very large numbers of hornets around mainly eucalyptus…
I had the pleasure of coming across two large fly species in Spain this summer, both of which are thought to mimic the European hornet (Vespa crabro). They are both large and somewhat hornet-like in appearance and behaviour. In fact, in both cases, I initially thought they were hornets. Looks like a hornet, sounds like a hornet,…
Asian hornets (Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836) are an invasive species from China which have recently become very abundant in Galicia in Spain – as well as elsewhere in Europe – as I described in a recent blog: Asian hornets in Galicia. They have a reputation for being aggressive, so I was interested to photograph this behaviour between…
Last year (8th Sept 2016) I reported on sightings of large numbers of Asian hornets (Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836) feeding on flowering bell heather in late August, in Galicia in NW Spain. (1) This year I came across large numbers feeding on Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) flowers in mid-August; a flower which is exceedingly abundant along, or near the coasts…
At the end of last month (on 28th August) I sat on a hillside in Galicia, Spain, next to a beautiful bush of flowering bell heather, photographing the wasps which were gorging themselves on the pollen and nectar. They were covered in pollen (below). They were very calm and non-aggressive and I sat right next…
Ray Cannon's nature notes 