Wasps are one of my favourite insects, despite my past run-ins with them, such as tumbling into a wasp nest at the age of five. Luckily, the thick sweater my great-aunt had made saved me from a lot of stings.
These creatures make an impression and provoke strong feelings, much like marmite—you either love them or hate them, but you can’t ignore them. This reaction gives me something to engage with.
Wasps are very beneficial. Not only do they help with pollination by feeding on nectar and transferring pollen between plants, but their nests also serve as protective environments for the larvae of certain pollinating hoverflies, such as the Hornet Hoverfly.
Moreover, wasps are vital natural pest controllers, hunting down a range of invertebrates to feed their larvae, and they’re impressive builders, creating paper nests from chewed wood.
The wasp queen starts her nest with a petiole, coated with an ant-repelling chemical. She then adds cells, laying eggs in each one. The queen then juggles feeding the hatching larvae and expanding the nest.
Larvae eventually encase themselves until they emerge as adults. Adult workers gather proteins for the young and sweets for their sustenance as they build up the nest. In return for food, larvae produce a sugary substance for the workers. When there are enough adults, the queen focuses on reproduction and is also taken care of by the workers. A nest can house thousands of wasps and is typically spherical.
By late summer, nests peak with adults and fewer larvae. At this time, new queens and male drones leave the nest. After mating, the queens seek out winter shelters, and the drones die, following a life cycle similar to ants and bees.
Worker wasps are about 12-17mm long, while the queens are bigger. While workers have a short adult life span, the queen lives through hibernation to lay eggs the following summer, living up to a year. However, the entire colony only survives for a year, ending when the new queens leave and the rest die off with the arrival of winter frosts.
Wasps have stingers for hunting and nest protection and use landmarks to navigate, which is why they may circle moving people. But after new queens leave, workers lose their purpose and the source of the sugary treats they favour.
This longing for sweets might explain why wasps are drawn to human foods like jam and beer. Our response to their approach can appear threatening, leading them to sting in defence. If only wasps had their own welfare system, people might appreciate them more.