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STIRRING UP A HORNET'S NEST

Killer Asian hornets invading Britain are being BEHEADED by native British species

HORDES of killer Asian hornets invading Britain are being wiped out by our home-grown insect hit squads.

The unwelcome aliens, whose sting can be deadly to humans, are being ruthlessly beheaded by native hornets.

Hordes of killer Asian hornets invading Britain are being wiped out by our home-grown insect hit squads
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Hordes of killer Asian hornets invading Britain are being wiped out by our home-grown insect hit squadsCredit: Getty
Native hornets, example pictured above, have been ruthlessly beheading the invaders
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Native hornets, example pictured above, have been ruthlessly beheading the invadersCredit: Getty

The Asians are reportedly surrounded by the bigger and tougher defenders and dragged away to an execution spot, where their heads are bitten off.

It is a sight giving hope to volunteers battling to keep the invaders from our shores.

Asian hornets, first seen in Europe in 2004, are feared because they destroy honey bees.

But they pack enough venom to send a human into a life-threatening anaphylactic shock.

Read more on hornets

So far, Defra records show just one confirmed sighting of an Asian hornet in Britain in 2022.

But record numbers have been seen in Jersey, where 106 have been destroyed this year.

Volunteers there are battling to keep them at bay as warm weather encourages nest-building.

Chief bug buster Alastair Christie, 56, said: “Almost every day we are finding two or three nests.”

But Channel Islands wildlife expert Bob Tompkins said he had seen the invaders being attacked.

He wrote in his newspaper column: “More recently, I have begun to find dead Asian hornets that have clearly been stung, killed and partially dismembered.”

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