Wasps are generally thought of as pests, but in fact they are great garden helpers.
Published: August 17, 2023
The vast majority (around 70 per cent) of wasps don’t sting – they have an ovipositor (an egglaying sheath) that they use to lay an egg on or in their prey. Wasps are hunters, usually of other insects and arthropods, because their offspring require meat to develop into adults. This makes them very efficient natural pest-controllers, including insect pests in gardens like caterpillars, aphids and weevils. Wasps are also pollinators. Adult wasps may be hunters, but they don’t eat the meat themselves. They find nutrition from nectar in flowers and in doing so, they carry pollen from flower to flower. Social wasps are also decomposers. They hunt carrion, as well as fresh prey, and so are important in gardens in clearing up dead creatures.
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