Wasps have a bad rap. This summer, let's learn to love them

[Demovictory9]

These insects, however, have a PR problem. They're unpopular with the general public and researchers alike. That attitude has resulted in gaping holes in scientific knowledge about wasps' role in ecosystems, the researchers said, and limited our understanding of threats posed to wasps by urbanization, climate crises and more.




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What wasps do for our world
"Everyone just kind of associates (wasps) with annoying them at barbecues or beers gardens," said lead study author Ryan Brock, a doctoral student in evolutionary ecology at the University of East Anglia. "It's always like: What is the point of wasps?"
Brock explained that the 33,000-odd varieties of stinging wasps included in the new study do more than hover, menacingly, near the potato salad.

"The two main things that wasps are doing for our ecosystems are as pest controllers and as pollinators," he said. Nearly 1,000 plant species may be pollinated by stinging wasps, found the review, including 164 species, such as the hammer orchid, that rely on wasps alone for pollination.

Should stinging wasps disappear overnight, those 164 plant species would be lost.

The insects are also agile predators. "Wasp species that live in large colonies are fantastic at hunting other insect species," Brock said. Without wasps, Brock said there could be an explosion in caterpillars and aphids. That, in turn, could decimate backyard gardens and crop yields.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/07/world/wasps-good-for-earth-scn/index.html

[comradebillyboy]

1. You love them, I'll keep my distance...

[Demovictory9]

26. No love for wasps in this thread 😰

[Treefrog]

2. Yes, they kill caterpillars, which are soon to be butterflies.

I try not to kill any member of any species, but wasps aren't my favorites.

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. I can't stand them.

But I don’t wish them any harm. They fly like they’re drunk, and they build too close to my place.

Like in my front porch light, every damn year. Have to remove the globe and leave a bare bulb every summer.

[Hekate]

4. Bah. As long as they stay far away from me.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. If a bee stings me, I'm comforted by knowing it kills itself

in the process. A wasp gets to sting and sting again.

[Norbert]

6. No thanks

If they sting they gave me a very large welt.

If they nest far from me we will get along just fine.

[doc03]

7. I don't like them they are vicious criters. I was stung twice

last week just for taking a leak behind a tree. At least I wasn't stung on my dingaling.
Honey bees don't sting unless they are threatened. Wasps don't need a reason.
Damn yellow jackets are like wasps.

[Earth-shine]

15. That's because they *are* wasps.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjacket

I've been stung by them. It feels like being hit with a hammer. There's a "bang" to it.

[MissB]

8. I see them in my garden eating aphids

and I leave them alone.

[roamer65]

9. WASPs?

White Anglo Saxon Protestants?




Oh the flying around stingy kinda ones.

Never mind.

[SoonerPride]

10. Kill it with fire

I have a garden full of orb weaving spiders, butterflies, bees, bumblebees, hummingbirds, and wild rabbits.

All are welcome.

Except wasps.

Fuck those evil bastards.

[Solly Mack]

11. I'm OK with them. I take photos of them.

Red Wasp having a drink of rain water.

[stillcool]

12. Bees are too busy to bother

with me, but wasps love to hover and buzz, making an annoyance of themselves. Bees are like Democrats, and wasps are like Republicans that do worthwhile work.

[IcyPeas]

13. I agree but how do I keep them off my balcony? they make nests very quickly.

[shanti]

28. I have yellow jackets

and use a fake nest hanging from the eaves, to keep them away. It works somewhat, but they do stay away from the back door.

[hunter]

14. White Anglo Saxon Protestants fucked over my ancestors hard.

They can all go to hell.

[BGBD]

16. IF they make the mistake of building a nest

near anywhere I have to go, they are going to die. If a plant has adapted to rely solely on wasps for pollination, then that was a poor evolutionary choice and they'll just have to pay for it.

Standard wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets should not tread here. Mud Daubers I'll let be since they rarely sting....although they have brought down a couple of airplanes.

Murders, all of them.

[ismnotwasm]

17. I Follow this guy on YouTube

He takes down wasp nests, but he’s always respectful and informative

[Goodheart]

18. I was walking along the sidewalk

Then suddenly I saw this rather large spider racing in front of me. "What the hell?", I thought.

Then from behind me this wasp came swooping down and tackled the spider, the impact causing them both to roll for a few inches.

When they finished tumbling they became disengaged, but this time the spider, probably understanding that he could not outrun the wasp, stood his ground on his haunches, facing the wasp, his front legs high in a menacing pose.

The wasp was also on the ground, dancing like Muhammad Ali, his wings flurrying frantically.

I soon saw that the poor spider was no match. With a sudden leap the wasp landed a kill shot into the back of the spider, who became noticably weaker, but then came another bolt, and then another, and the spider was paralyzed, only a few twitches from his legs showing that he was probably still alive... and was about to be drained of all his life fluids.

And there right there, no kidding, is the sort of encounter that started me down the road to atheism.

[Celerity]

20. +1

[Demovictory9]

29. Omg 😳😳😳

[Kaleva]

31. If we really see what's going on in nature, it's total war.

[EndlessWire]

19. MURDER WASPS??

Oh, hell no!

[rickyhall]

21. No

[Celerity]

22. STUNG by an EXECUTIONER WASP! (worst sting of all insects currently known on the planet)

[Demovictory9]

33. that was intense

[MissMillie]

23. Any chance the Wasps will kill the cicadas? (n/t)

[Dorian Gray]

35. YES

The Cicada Killer Wasps are HUGE wasps but pretty innocuous to humans. We saw a whole bunch of them upstate (NY) last summer. No cicadas last year, but they're about to have a bounteous feast this year!

https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/cicada-killer-wasps#:~:text=BugInfo%20Cicada%20Killer%20Wasps%201%20Description%3A%20Cicada%20Killers,done.%20...%205%20SELECTED%20REFERENCES%3A%20Dambach%2C%20C.%20

[I_UndergroundPanther]

24. Sry I hate wasps

And I'll kill them given a chance.

They fly into my face,they invade my space.

How do I kill a flying wasp? I make my hands as flat as possible,get them close to the wasp very slowly so it won't react as it hovers and than clap my flat hands very fast and hard together. Immediately I move my hands apart .The stunned wasp falls to the ground where I crush it until it crunches apart.

I killed wasps that got into the school bus this way. The whole bus was freaking out.
I would flatten my hands and clap the wasp in mid air then immediately release the stunned wasp.And stomp.

I have been stung as a child tons of times and they are a nuisance and a threat to my well being . I figured out how to clap them by accident.

[Raine]

25. If they stay away from me I'll leave them be. nt

[stollen]

27. I'm allergic and can go into anaphylactic shock

I have medicine for that ready to go just in case

[pansypoo53219]

30. wasps usually love my pussy willow tree when in pollen. too cold this year.

i got stung as kid. now i have no fear. the hornet sting worse.

[Kaleva]

32. I'll leave them alone if they pose no threat to me or my family.

[Straw Man]

34. Five years ago, just a few weeks after moving into a new (to me) house ...

... I got nailed on the left index finger by a wasp from a nest in the carport, just above the kitchen door. The sting swelled into a huge blister-like thing that didn't go away. After about a month, I sought medical help and was told to wait and see. When it hadn't gone down a year later (yes, a year), I went to a hand specialist, who lanced it and bound it with a tight bandage.

The blister didn't come back, but the stinger is still in there. I can feel it when I press on the area, and that finger aches when the weather is hot and humid.

Fuck wasps.