4 March, 2026

No hornets in Devonport – so far

Wired… a hornet with a transmitter attached

No yellow-legged hornets have been detected on the Devonport peninsula to date, three weeks after the first were found in neighbouring Takapuna, where a nest with a queen inside was destroyed.
Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis said no more detections had been made in Takapuna or in Forrest Hill, where two nests were found.
“Nor have they been detected in Hauraki or further south on the Devonport peninsula.”
Inglis said people should stay on the alert for signs of the yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina).
Due to more surveillance, more sightings were expected and these were valuable before winter when the pest hibernated and became harder to spot.
To date on the North Shore, there have been 57 confirmed queen hornets and 67 nests (46 containing queens), with finds centred on the Glenfield area.
The public has reported 12,760 suspected finds to authorities.
The hornet, a type of wasp, is a threat to honey bees. The non-native species was first spotted in October.
Since then, efforts to eradicate it have been aided by adopting tracking methods from overseas, including attaching transmitters to live hornets.