My daughter asked the question......do wasps serve any purpose other than annoying & stinging people? :confused:

NB. Please keep your responses clean as she'll want to read them. thanks :thumbsup:

They kill slugs I believe. Got to be worth having them about if this is true.

Also useful for making people laugh - watching others as they attempt to dodge some mad wasp hell bent on stinging someone - anyone - they are not choosey.

Dragon

Not really - but they are fascinating, especially the way in which the whole nest dies off but the queen can start a new nest with stored sperm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/427.shtml

I didnt know about the following, will keep my distance in future :P

The venom of the wasp contains a pheromone which acts as an alarm causing other wasps to become more aggressive when a wasp has stung something or has been killed. So it is a bad idea to swat a wasp near its nest site or to attempt to remove the nest yourself.

-------------

This page is also good; I didnt know there are 75,000 types of wasp ! Oh, and if you do disturb a nest you can have 100 defender wasps after your ass :gag:

http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/

You really are Gill Grissam!!

Don't they also eat a lot of rubbish and help polenate flowers.

Originally posted by Disco_Cat
Don't they also eat a lot of rubbish

They can't eat that much cos they're only little!!

Originally posted by the_rudeboy
They can't eat that much cos they're only little!!


True, but their are a lot of them and if you look at windfalls that have been left they do a pretty good job on those.

Originally posted by the_rudeboy
My daughter asked the question......do wasps serve any purpose other than annoying & stinging people? :confused:

Further to the previous answers:

Wasps are infact evil purveyors of insect mischief who perform many functions and infact have a much higher, secret purpose than anyone could possibly imagine. Unfortunately we do not yet know what their masterplan is, as anyone who gets close to the truth gets stung.

As they go about their evil business on this planet, I would ask that you contribute to the resistance against the evil Wasp supermind. Carry some Raid.

Thank you.

Wasps are important pollinators, and are effective at controlling pests.
So good for our crops then :)

Originally posted by Disco_Cat
You really are Gill Grissam!!

Don't they also eat a lot of rubbish and help polenate flowers.

No mate that's Bees.

Similar kind of creature, but not the same.

And Wasps are perfectly happy to leave you alone and not sting you unless you annoy them enough to make them want to sting you.

But, if that's the case, how the chuff did I get stung at random on a train back from Leeds a while back when all I did was reach up to get a paper?!

Wasps do indeed have their uses, if an angler is brave enough or mad enough to collect the grubs from a wasp nest, he will have a brilliant bait for chub!
I once had a supply and watched fish totally ignoring maggots, bread etc, but as soon as wasp cake (the honeycomb casing full of grubs) landed on the water, the chub absolutely raced to it! It's such a good bait that it was banned on a lot of venues 'cos not everyone can get it!

Originally posted by Deavon
Further to the previous answers:

Wasps are infact evil purveyors of insect mischief who perform many functions and infact have a much higher, secret purpose than anyone could possibly imagine. Unfortunately we do not yet know what their masterplan is, as anyone who gets close to the truth gets stung.

I knew it........snidey gits


What would you rather bee or a wasp?

Who said wasps do not sting you unless you annoy them?

I went outside work for a cigarette. A minute later - sharp pain in the neck. Puzzled I reached up just as the little chappie stung me again. Of course - he did not live to tell the tale and luckily I am not called Anna Falactic or I could have been in serious trouble.

Do not like wasps but I tend to run around like no-ones business trying to avoid them rather than kill them.

Dragon

they eat aphids, so keeping your roses free of them.

I can't remember where I heard this and may well be misquoting but "Bumble bees are the country squires of the insect world, Wasps are the violent football hooligans".

Didn't Eddie Izzard do a sketch on this? Bees making honey, spiders making gravy and wasps making chutney?

Either way wasps are evil little sh*ts - certainly the chav of the insect world in my book.

Originally posted by Cyclone
they eat aphids, so keeping your roses free of them.

they eat chicken too - http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?postid=108076#post108076

What would you rather bee or a wasp?

I was delighted to see this line Rudeboy as it has long been a family saying of ours - the correct answer is of course.......

A Bee, because they are more powerful.

(Impossible to prove,illogical,but I find it amusing) I suspect the real answer to your daughters question lies somewhere in the raelms of wasps feeding on and being eaten by, other creatures. They also make oak galls/apples as well I think.
Regards, Halibut.

its a bee that stings you only if annoyed as it only can sting once then it dies so does not sting unless it as to were as a wasp can sting you several times

I once watched a fight to the death a humongous garden spider & a wasp.

Fascinating.

Originally posted by Dragon
Who said wasps do not sting you unless you annoy them?

I went outside work for a cigarette. A minute later - sharp pain in the neck. Puzzled I reached up just as the little chappie stung me again. Of course - he did not live to tell the tale and luckily I am not called Anna Falactic or I could have been in serious trouble.

Do not like wasps but I tend to run around like no-ones business trying to avoid them rather than kill them.

Dragon

You dont only annoy people by smoking!:hihi: Once swatted a wasp ,Was amazed by a spider as it quickly ran out from its hiding place and attacked it and dragged it away:o what a team:clap:

I assume the wasp won Don? I've now got an image of an insect fight club in my head with the role of tyler durden being filled by a slightly miffed wasp..... God it's too early for such madness.

They've evil lil things. I was stood perfectly still when one came and stung my neck. Since then, I don't stand still anymore!

....and is it a coincidence that they are the same colours as a traffic warden?:suspect: :suspect: :suspect:

FRANKLY WASPS ARE EVIL MURDERERS, BUT ONLY IF U R ALLERGIC TO THEM MY WIFES FAVOURITE BOSS WAS KILLED BY A SINGLE WASP STING HE WAS GARDENING ON HI OWN AND IT APPEARED THAT HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TIME TO USE HIS EPPI-PEN. MY AVICE IS FIND OUT IF U R ALLERGIC AND IF U R KEEP AN EPPI-PEN ON YOU TEL PEOPLE AROUND YOU WHAT TO DO AND BUY A WASP PROOF SUIT

Originally posted by eddd
FRANKLY WASPS ARE EVIL MURDERERS, BUT ONLY IF U R ALLERGIC TO THEM MY WIFES FAVOURITE BOSS WAS KILLED BY A SINGLE WASP STING HE WAS GARDENING ON HI OWN AND IT APPEARED THAT HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TIME TO USE HIS EPPI-PEN. MY AVICE IS FIND OUT IF U R ALLERGIC AND IF U R KEEP AN EPPI-PEN ON YOU TEL PEOPLE AROUND YOU WHAT TO DO AND BUY A WASP PROOF SUIT

How do you find out if you're allergic to the little critters?
Is it not too late if one stings you.....cos you're dead?

No, they are the skinheads of the animal kingdom :P

Originally posted by the_rudeboy
My daughter asked the question......do wasps serve any purpose other than annoying & stinging people? :confused:


How strange, my daughter also asked me exactly this question today! I could only come up with the eating aphids idea, but there must be plenty of other creatures that do that too, and I don't like roses anyway. Wasps - who needs 'em?!!

Originally posted by sauerkraut
How strange, my daughter also asked me exactly this question today!

Children know when things aren't right. It's like a sixth sense that we all have as kids but grow out of.

(Did I mention that wasps are not originally from Earth? That's an important point).

There is a hardcore gang of wasps currently on Glossop Road and West Street that look as if they have been binge drinking all weekend. They are flying about dozily and banging into things (my head namely).

They are terrorising the neighbourhood!