Vespa velutina nigrithorax Lepeltier, 1836 from Hamburg (Northern Germany) shares the same COI haplotype with other European populations

Abstract

The yellow-legged, or Asian hornet, Vespa velutina, has invaded large parts of South-Western Europe and now starts spreading further north. Recently, it has been reported from Hamburg, Northern Germany. Yet, the origin of this new invasion is not clear as the founders may have come either from Southern Europe or from Asia. We here use COI sequences to test these alternatives and find that the specimens from Hamburg share the same haplotype with all Southern European samples. This suggests that the species has been transported long distance from other Europe to Northern Germany and shows further its high invasion potential.