Скачать или смотреть Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) - Brighton, September 2021

Sometimes it's all to easy to overlook or misunderstand the things with which we think we are most familiar. Is there any insect as misunderstood as the Common wasp?

Almost unbelievably, there are approx. 9,000 species of wasp in the UK alone, some of which are so miniscule as to almost require a microscope to see them.

The vast majority of these are solitary wasps unlike this species which is a social wasp, nesting in communities of thousands of individuals, led by Queens.

Feared by many, wasps are, through sheer numbers essential if accidental pollinators, and play a critical control role in keeping the eco-system in balance, preying on flies, aphids, caterpillars and other invertebrates, which they feed to their young.

According to the Natural History Museum "Each summer, social wasps in the UK capture an estimated 14 million kilogrammes of insect prey, such as caterpillars and greenfly."

Let that sink in.....

Adults meanwhile, feed on sugars obtained from nectar, fruit, honeydew and yes, occasionally from your jam sandwich.

Towards the end of the summer the Queens lay more eggs which produce male wasps, called drones and fertile females, with which they will mate. These will be next year's Queens, their first job being to find somewhere safe to hibernate, ready to start a new nest when they emerge the following spring.

Wasps, of course do have a sting, but generally this is used as a defensive weapon, particularly if there's a perceived threat to a nest, as I have found out in the past.

PK

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