Staff from the National Biodiversity Data Centre in Waterford are assisting the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) with its response to the recent sightings of the Asian hornet in Belfast.
The staff have been sharing their recent practical experience of the tracing and removal of Asian hornet nests in Cork city and Cobh.
The NIEA said that, along with advice from the Animal and Plant Health Agency in Britain, this has “refined NIEA’s monitoring approach in terms of equipment and techniques”.
To date, no Irish officials have been sent to the North to assist with the operation, “but an employee of the [centre] lives locally and has provided useful help,” the agency said.
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Meanwhile, further sightings of Asian hornets in east Belfast “suggest the existence of a nest”, the NIEA has said.
It follows the first discovery of an Asian hornet in Northern Ireland, captured in the Dundonald area on Friday.
The NIEA said officials were using track-and-trace methods to establish the location of, and remove, any potential nest in the area.
The hornet, an invasive species originally from east Asia, is bigger than a common wasp, with far less yellow in its body colouring.
Minister for the Environment Andrew Muir said earlier this week it was “a harmful species that I do not wish to see becoming established in Northern Ireland as it presents a serious threat to both biosecurity and local ecology, particularly valuable pollinating insects.
A biosecurity alert was declared in the Republic after an Asian hornet was captured in Cork in August.
According to the most recent update from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) last month, there have been 24 verified sightings of Asian hornets in Cork and Dublin so far, with two nests found.
The public in the North is urged to be vigilant and report any suspect insects, ideally with a photograph, to the Asian Hornet Watch app or via the CEDaR invasive species online recording.
Suspected nests should not be disturbed but reported immediately, the NIEA said.
