In praise of wasps
I write this article unashamedly in praise of wasps, the more I find out about them, the more I appreciate them. I was doing a bit of research the other day on pollinators, bees being far from our only pollinating insect, moths and butterflies, beetles, flies and wasps also doing a fine job of it too, and found out that we in Britain have 9000 species of wasp! Comparable to 270 species of bee, all of which pollinate plants, in fact, some of the world's orchids are only pollinated by wasps.
Only very few species look like the archetypal yellowjacket Vespula vulgaris that all of us picture when we think of a wasp. They come in all sizes, most of them are black and would be mistaken for flies. In fact, the smallest insect in the world is the fairyfly wasp with the amazing latin name, Tinkerbella nana, which is nearly 400 times smaller than a typical ant.
Wasps are actually in the same order of insects as bees (Hymenoptera) but seem to have missed the memo from the PR department. Perhaps, I’d say almost certainly, their lack of public approval is due to their intensely annoying behaviour when the sun does finally come out and we head into the garden with sugar-ladened treats. This actually only really happens with any vigour later in the season and this is why..
Wasps predate on invertebrates but rather than eating them they chop them into pieces and feed them to their young, as opposed to bees that feed their larvae royal jelly or pollen. On eating the invertebrates, the wasp larva secrete a sugary liquid that they feed to the adult. In August when the nests stop raising larvae the worker wasps run out of food and go in search of picnics and glasses of wine.
Another reason for writing this article on wasps today is so that I can talk about the invasive Asian hornet. A fellow villager asked me to write on this subject and I gladly accepted.
I had a European hornet in the house the other day, its buzzing by the window was so loud that I honestly thought someone was using a lawn mower outside. The Asian hornet is similar in size to the reddish tinged with yellow abdomen European hornet but is black with less yellow stripes on the abdomen. It predates on honey bees and can eat up to 50 a day, much like many invasive species, it doesn’t have the usual checks and balances that are to be found in its home environment. It first entered Europe sometime around 2004 when it was spotted in France and is thought, like many invasive species, to have been carried along with cargo transported from afar, in this case Asia of course.
The first UK sighting was in 2016 and for many years it has been largely contained, but it seems that the genie may be escaping the bottle, as last year nests were destroyed in 57 different locations, mainly in Kent, which is more than double the previous seven years combined. 16 sightings were made in 2023, again mainly in Kent, but also in Dorset and as far north as Newcastle upon Tyne. As opposed to 2 sightings in both 2022 and 2021.
It is imperative that sightings be reported if we are in any way to control this species, either through the free Asian Hornet Watch App or by reporting directly to the Great British Non Native Species Secretariat (NNSS).
Fairyfly Tinkerbella nana photo: Dr John T Huber
