What do wasps do

In fact, orchids have evolved to look like the back end of a female wasp to attract males. In addition, wasps can also aid us in developing new medications as their venom and saliva have antibiotic properties. The venom of yellowjacket wasps may result in a treatment for cancer.

However, just like a myriad of other insects, wasps are losing their habitat and falling victim to climate change and large-scale pesticide use. Thus, efforts to protect them are vital, the scientists stress. Search for: Search. It focused on the 33, known species of hunting wasps, which carry stings and live in every corner of the world.

Yellowjackets and hornets, the picnic pests that have given wasps a bad name, make up a small proportion of all wasp species. But even they provide help that is little known, such as hoovering up caterpillars on vegetable patches. Yellowjacket venom is also being investigated as a promising cancer treatment.

Many insect populations are plunging , threatening human well-being, but wasps seem to be more resilient. Even among entomologists, however, many appear to avoid them, and the scientists said much more research was needed to understand them. Wasps could be just as valuable as other beloved insects like bees, if only we gave them more of a chance.

The study, published in the journal Biological Reviews , analyzed scientific reports on stinging wasps. There are , known wasp species, but 70, are parasitic, which are stingless and quite well studied. We showed that levels of crop damage and pest populations of the fall army worm a pest of maize, which causes billions of dollars in crop yield losses every year were significantly reduced when wasps were allowed to access them.

Although wasps hunt prey to feed to growing offspring, the adult hunters are herbivores, just like bees, who visit flowers for carbohydrates in the form of sugar. Much of the year adult social wasps are fed by their larvae, which provide the adults with a nutritious sugar solution in return for the meat they are fed.

Some plants are completely reliant on wasps for pollination; we counted plant species across six families. Most of these are orchids which have evolved to mimic female wasp pheromones — some even look like the back end of a female wasp. Males of the Scoliidae and Thynnidae are duped into copulating with a sexy-looking orchid, during which pollen is attached to him and transferred to another flower as he flits from one sexy deceptor to the next.

The vast majority of wasp-plant interactions are, however, non-specific. We identified plant species across families that were visited by wasps. The social wasps in particular appear to be extremely unfussy about what flower they will visit, so long as they can reach the nectar. To date, there are no studies that allow even a rough estimate of the value of wasps as pollinators. But, given the importance of natural pollinators to our food security and the apparent declines of well-recognised pollinators like bees and hover flies, now would be a good time to start taking wasp pollination a bit more seriously.

This is especially true given that some species of social wasp appear to be relatively resilient to anthropogenic change. In a recent analysis of museum and contemporary biological records, we showed that populations of social wasp species had changed very little over the last years.

The yellowjacket wasps in particular appear to be resilient to anthropogenic challenges, like urbanisation and agriculture.

Other species, like the hornet, may be more affected by pollutants and loss of habitat. We need a better understanding of what life history traits make certain species resilient and others vulnerable to our changing planet in order to manage the potential pollinating power of wasps.

When trying to put a value on insects, one rarely thinks beyond pollination and predation. In fact, these are only part of the services that insects, including wasps, might offer us. Promoting entomophagy — insects as food for humans — is surely the solution to sustainable food security. Insects are high in protein and essential amino acids. They use less space and water, emit fewer greenhouse gases and ammonia than livestock.

This means that farming them is very efficient. Over 2 billion people around the world consume insects as part of their diet, with species being eaten across 19 countries. And wasps account for 4. The Japanese are especially appreciative of wasp larvae or pupae. When the queen wakes up in spring, the yeast hitch a ride to a nearby sugar source remember that wasps like flowers?

Wasps — specifically wasp venom — can help out here, too. The venom of solitary and social wasps is packed with antibiotics which keeps their prey disease-free and fresh. Larval secretions of social wasps are also rich in antimicrobials, which wasp workers smear over their bodies, brood and nest.

Many of these antimicrobials have potential benefits for human health. They are effective against disease-causing bacteria, and some take specific action against Mycobacterium abscessuss , an important multi-drug-resistant bacterium. Even the nests of wasps hold medicinal potential , with antibiotic properties effective against Streptococcus mutans a bacterium associated with dental decay , Actinomyces and Lactobacillus found in the combs of social wasps like Polistes.

The practical potential of these buzzing medicine cabinets has yet to be picked up by the pharmaceutical world. But perhaps the most exciting medical potential of wasps are the cancer-cell killing properties of mastoparan found in the venom of social wasps. These are a family of amphipathic peptides which preferentially target cancerous cells over healthy cells.

But this too is still far from practical application. These are persuasive reasons to appreciate the wasp, but are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, wasps also disperse seeds , clean up rotting flesh , and hold promise as environmental monitoring tools. My love affair with wasps arose out of their fascinating behaviour.

The turbulent lives of such tiny beings drew me in and seduced me. I cared about them because their mini-dramas unfold chapters in our understanding of social evolution — one of the most perplexing and phenomenal products of the natural world.

Twenty years on, I get that not everyone shares this obsession and fascination. Wasps matter to us.