Just annoying? 7 amazing facts about wasps
The well-known children's song shows it clearly: «Hum, hum, hum, little bee buzzing around. Oh, we won't hurt you, just fly over forest and heath. Hum, hum, hum, little bee buzzing around.» We like bees. They give us fruit and honey. We sing nice songs about them and turn them into film stars with characters like the famous Maya the Bee, even for the very young.
Wasps, on the other hand, are annoying. They sting us as soon as they get the chance, bother us at cosy picnics or barbecues, build their nests on our houses or in the garden and seem to be spreading more and more invasively. This is the common opinion. You will search in vain for a friendly wasp song. Phrases such as «You've stirred up a wasps' nest», on the other hand, clearly reflect our rejection of these insects.
Wasps control plant pests more effectively than any chemical agent - without any side effects.
Wrongly so, as entomologist Eric R. Eaton shows in his new book «Wasps - Underestimated insects with amazing abilities». He takes us on an exciting journey through the world of wasps and opens our eyes to extremely instructive findings about this disdained group of insects. We have picked out seven surprising facts for you (there are many more) and provided them with lots of amusing tips.
1. wasps are important plant pollinators
Not only bees but also wasps are important plant pollinators. An astonishing number of plants, especially a number of orchids, are pollinated exclusively by wasps. However, there are also varieties of crop plants that can only be pollinated by wasps. For example, all fig species. They live in symbiosis with tiny wasps of the Agaonidae family.
Tip: Think carefully before planting a fig tree in your garden. Now you know: It's going to be a wasp fest.
- Never walk barefoot. Many wasp and bumblebee species have their nests on the ground, and bees like to nibble on clover flowers in lawns and meadows.
- Never drink directly from open cans or opaque bottles. Beer, cola and soft drinks attract wasps and bees. These can accidentally get into your mouth while drinking.
- Strong odours such as perfume, hairspray etc., but also sweat, attract biting insects. It is therefore better to avoid them, shower more often and be particularly careful when doing sport in the great outdoors.
- Sweet and protein-rich foods attract bees and wasps. Therefore, avoid eating outdoors and do not pick fruit with your bare fingers.
- Avoid hectic movements and flailing in the vicinity of wasps and bees, otherwise the animals will feel threatened and sting.
- Close your mouth when cycling or your visor and jackets and shirts when riding a motorbike to avoid catching animals.
You can find more tips and information here.
2. wasps are acoustic trick masters
Wasps that drum, rattle or squeak? You'd be amazed, wouldn't you? But that's exactly how it is. Wasps use acoustic effects, including vibrations, for very different purposes. Acoustic signals are used to locate hosts, to attract mates, to defend the individual or the colony, as a sign of dominance and to find food.
In Africa, wasps saved people from famine by ridding the staple food manioc of a plague of lice.
Fancy a few examples? Let's take a longhorned beetle larva hiding in wood. To find the larva, certain wasp species drum on the wood with their antennae. With organs in their forelegs, they sense the reflected sound waves and, poof, they have found their host.
Other wasps, for example females of the primitive social wasp, rub their abdomen against their nest to defend it against hostile takeovers by other females. Or ant wasps: they squeak audibly when threatened. This species even has an ultrasonic component.
However, sound production is not limited to adult wasps. The larvae of many social wasps scratch the walls of their brood cells with their jaws to demand food.
Tip: We know: stars and planets, the whole universe sings and sounds. Wasps drum, rattle and squeak. What do your own sounds sound like? Your voice? Do you have the courage to show it?
3. wasps successfully control pests
Where chemical poisons fail, wasps can help: large-scale monocultures are widespread for reasons of profit. These favour only a few species and exclude most others. An easy game for pests. Researchers have discovered that tiny parasitic wasps, which are barely recognisable to the naked eye, can be successfully used to control crop pests. They combat plant pests more effectively than any chemical agent - and without any side effects.
Wasps have already been sent into space and are helping in cancer research.
The biggest of these success stories comes from Africa: cassava, a staple food there, was infested with mealybugs in 1973 and decimated. A wasp variety from Paraguay successfully eliminated the louse plague in the 1990s and brought more than 95 per cent of the cassava mealybugs under control. This saved people from famine and prevented economic damage totalling at least CHF 200 million.
Tip: As a consumer, take a stand against monocultures and only buy regional honey. The label «Origin from Latin America and Europe» indicates that it is a mixture of monocultures. Although this honey is significantly cheaper, it tastes much worse and harms the environment. Better less and more expensive, but tasty and sustainable. It's worth it.
4. wasps can be raven or helicopter mothers
The maternal instinct of wasps covers the whole spectrum and ranges from practically non-existent to round-the-clock care. Ten genera of plant wasps are known in which the females guard their eggs and larvae. Many species of parasitoid wasps also protect their offspring. In social wasps, daughters of the queen look after their younger siblings. Apart from inseminating the females, fathers play practically no role.
Tip: Do you sometimes wonder whether you are a good mum or dad? Relax and do as the wasps do: they are just like us - sometimes gluggy, sometimes prickly.
5 Wasps also suffer from housing shortages
Do you want to save the world? Then start in your garden. How about building or buying an insect hotel with your child? Simple blocks of wood with drill holes of different sizes or bundles of hollow plant stems are best.
Tip: Place the housing at least one metre above the ground, facing east or south. With any luck, solitary bees will colonise and pollinate the plants and parasitoid wasps will rid the garden of voracious caterpillars and other unwanted insects.
6. wasps advance human civilisation
Did you know that wasps have already been sent into space for scientific purposes? This is what happened to a colony of hornets that unfortunately perished in 1992. Wasps are also used in medicine and pharmacy. A substance from the venom of a Brazilian wasp species, for example, attacks tumour cells by docking to tumour-specific sites on the cell membrane, causing it to leak. And they have even provided key data in behavioural research (ethology) and chemical ecology.
Wasps served as models for inventions or improvements to existing products. In 1719, René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, a French physicist and naturalist, was inspired by the paper nests of wasps for commercial paper production, so that he - allegedly as the first - suggested the use of wood pulp.
The yellow and black striped insects also provide cultural input: for example, the female beauty ideal of the wasp waist or the popular Italian scooter - the Vespa.
Tip: Listen to the experts and trust them. Out of fear or aversion, wasps are often misidentified or misunderstood by many people. Many hastily resort to poison. There are always preventative steps or alternative control measures. The more we know about wasps, the more efficiently we can co-exist with these insects that are ultimately so important to us.
Wasps help solve a criminal case
7. wasps are indispensable for intact ecosystems
Insects are generally of great benefit to us humans. This also applies to wasps. They can fulfil almost every conceivable role in ecosystems. Their services include
- Pollination of crops and wild plants
- Function as prey for other wild animals
- Recycling animal waste products and decomposing organic material. Wood wasps, for example, rejuvenate forests by contributing to the decomposition of dead wood
- Pest control in agricultural and forest ecosystems
- Symbiosis with mites, fungi, viruses or bacteria. In a symbiosis, both species benefit from the relationship. The association of a wasp and its microbial partners itself represents an ecosystem, which is known as a holobiont
Tip: Want to be amazed even more? In Eric R. Eaton's wasp book, you can find out even more interesting facts about our new friends. The clearly and comprehensibly structured work also impresses with numerous impressive pictures from wow to wäki.
Wasps - underestimated insects with amazing abilities
Eric R. Eaton studied entomology at Oregon State University. He is the author and co-author of numerous books about insects and runs the blog «BugEric». With «Wasps», he has made it his mission to transform fear and aversion towards these insects into fascination and admiration.
The book costs 40 francs 80 and is available here.
