wasps

[hedge]

Why do wasps exist, what benefit do they bring?
thanks Hedge

[China Doll]

Nothing lives to benefit anything else. They exist because they have evloved this way and they continue to survive because they are suitable to their enviroment. No species has any justification or particular reason for living.

That said, there is a wasp that's about an inch long that lives in a rainforest in a very large tree, (well more than one wasp and one tree obviously), the entire life of the tree depends on this species of wasp as it is the basis of the ecosystem.

The wasp in Britain helps with pollination of the plants and I think it eats greenfly, (among other things).

[raysparx1]

Although most people may think they serve no purpose, this cocept is wrong, all creatures are here because they are needed to keep the balance of the world right,

Few people are aware of the role the common wasp plays in keeping the populations of many insect pests under control

They are mainly feared because of the sting they give, and they can sting more than once, I think a bee can only sting once.

[Lonnie]

To follow on from rays excellent reply, Wasps are beneficial in that they kill a large number of Flies, Catterpillers and other Insects, therebye helping keep their numbers down, they also eat rotting fruit.

I think they are facinating, and have learnt, if one or more land on me, not to panic, that way you don't get stung.

[LoftyLottie]

I have never been stung either Lonnie in 61 years. They are sometimes annoying, but I have never panicked either.

[Matkop]

Wasps are beneficial in that they keep down the numbers of insects, etc. in quite a wide area around their nests. They also (accidentally) help with pollination of plants. Wasps are active from around April when they hatch, but people generally don't notice them until around August - when they suddenly start bothering people in their search for sweet /sugary food.

This is a function of their lifecycle. From around April the workers go out and gather small insects (greenfly, etc.) and carry them back to the nest to feed to the grubs. In return, the grubs exude a sticky sweet nectar which is the workers food. At the end of July the young queens leave the nest to set up for next year. No queens = no eggs = no grubs = no food for the workers.

You can see what's coming next... the workers start making a real nuisance as they roam around, desperately looking for an equivalent food - e.g. your ice cream, cola, etc. - and will sting you to get it..!

If you managed to wipe out all the wasps nests in an area early in spring, you'd have no problems that summer with getting stung by them. Then next year, your garden would be overrun by tons of insects - and then perhaps you'd be overrun with spiders instead?

Which would you prefer? ;-)