The highabundance and impact on honeybees of the Asian hornet Vespa velutina var. nigrithorax have caused great concern among European public authorities and beekeepers. The species was reported for the first time in France in 2005 and spread out across 66 European districts (ca. 360 000 km 2 ) within 7 years (INPN, 2012; Rome et al., 2013). Its arrival was reported in 2010 in Northern Spain, in 2011 in Portugal and Belgium and in 2013 in Italy. Its wider expansion in Europe is soon to be expected. We discuss here the advances of the collaborative research project initiated in 2008 in France. 1. The potential invasion risk of the species was assessed using modeling tools of climatic suitability (Villemant et al., 2011, Barbet-Massin et al., 2013). Interestingly, the potential distribution of V. v. nigrithorax matches the current distribution of another invasive social wasp, the German yellow jacket, Vespula germanica (Beggs et al., 2011). 2. Apartfrom reported damages on hives, little is known on the biology of V. velutina throughout its native Asian range. In the invaded range, the impact of V. v. nigrithorax on the diversity and biomass of the invertebrate fauna is under study. Preliminary results reported a diversified diet varying among seasons and habitat types. 3. The genetic variability between individuals of V. v. nigrithorax from France and Asia was assessed in order to describe the history of its invasion. The analysis has evidenced a low variability among the invasive population, which indicates a single introduction of one or more queens. The sampling of specimens in France and in the area of origin has been extended to confirm this hypothesis and the most probable area of origin (Arca, 2012). Given the potential economic and biological impact of V. v. nigrithorax, a better understanding of its invasion dynamics is necessary to predict regions at risk, hence to help with planning dedicated control measures, a prerequisite for replacing the reactive nature of current solutions with a proactive, predictive approach.