A "very large" German wasp nest found in Martinborough which managed to survive for two summers could be down to climate change, an expert says.
In New Zealand, about 10% of German wasp nests are able to survive the winter.
Victoria University of Wellington entomologist Phil Lester said due to low rainfall, warmer summers, and warmer winters, we can expect to see more of these large wasp nests.
"A normal nest might contain 10,000 workers. This nest was 100,000 to 200,000 workers," Lester told 1News.
The nest was found on a farm in Martinborough last week and was removed on Monday. Parts of the nest are at Victoria University of Wellington for testing.
"One of the really interesting things about this is 'how do these nests get to be so big?' and 'what are the conditions?' and 'what is the population genetics associated with getting to be such a large size?'"
The nest measured approximately two metres long, roughly 1.5 metres high, "and a similar size in width", he said.
The Guinness World Record for the largest nest was discovered in Auckland in 2020. It was 3.75 metres tall and 1.7 metres wide.
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