Six months on from the discovery of a yellow-legged hornet queen in Auckland there are encouraging signs New Zealand’s eradication effort is gaining ground.

Teams that have been searching intensively for the highly invasive predators haven’t turned up a new nest since last month.

This result suggests the country’s $12 million response programme – which has seen dozens of nests found and destroyed, alongside a huge public reporting effort – may be starting to get on top of the incursion.

From my perspective, having closely followed the response, there is good reason to be cautiously optimistic this serious threat to New Zealand and its vulnerable ecosystems can be stamped out before it gains a foothold.

Still, this progress comes at a critical moment, when any remaining hornet nests will shift into a new phase and rapidly seed a new generation.

At this time of year, worker numbers peak and colonies would normally begin producing new queens, known as gynes. These queens mate, then disperse and overwinter in sheltered sites, ready to establish new nests in spring.

From a biosecurity perspective, the goal is straightforward: find and destroy every remaining nest before new queens are produced. The coming weeks may determine whether that goal is achieved.

Why this tiny invader remains such a threat

The........

© The Conversation