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A record number of Asian hornet sightings have been reported in the UK so far this year, figures show.
There have been 22 confirmed sightings of the non-native species so far in 2023, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
That is more than the previous six years combined – and more than ten times the number sighted last year.
While Asian hornets are considered no greater risk to human health than other wasps or hornets, they are predators of native bees and wasps.
It comes as a landmark report by the United Nations (UN) warns that invasive species are costing the world economy at least $423bn (£336bn) a year.
The report also warns that invasive species are travelling around the world at “unprecedented rates” because of humans, and are threatening native plants and animals with extinction.
‘The tip of the iceberg’
Published by the UN’s Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the report has found that more than 37,000 “alien species” have been introduced by many human activities to regions and biomes around the world.
Of those, more than 3,500 are reported to have had negative impacts on their non-native environments – and are therefore classed as “invasive alien species”.
The report, published on Monday, also warns that new alien species are being recorded at an unprecedented rate of approximately 200 each year.
It warns that the global economic cost of invasive alien species exceeded $423bn (£336bn) billion annually in 2019, with costs having at least quadrupled every decade since 1970.
The authors of the report, compiled from research by 86 scientists from 49 countries, also describe the figure as “a huge underestimate” and “the tip of an iceberg”.
One major concern highlighted in the report is the impact on native species.
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