Is there a bee-ologist who can tell me if hornets are wasps, or are they their own thing?
The wasps around here have always been pretty chill around me, but I get wary around hornets.
this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2024
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Bees are like carpenters, they carry a knife but you're not worried they might stab you for no reason.
Wasps are like meth heads.
They're like meth head gang members that also call their gang to attack you after they do. That's what terrifies me of them.
Bees, wasps, ok, got it.
But mosquitoes? I'be yet to find a biologist that would advocate for preservation of mosquitos. Kill them with fire.
Mosquitos are one of the most prolific pollinators, I think you’d find most biologists would tell you this.
really, they are that relevant in pollination too? I thought it was some nutrient feedback link from large fauna to lake environments.
Here’s some mostly true facts about them in an easy to digest way:
https://youtu.be/Hz_DslzN2IA?si=NjBOK8LQxEDV_BBB
But yes. Mosquitos are more than just blood suckers.
this is great how did yt never recommend this guy to me, I'm always watching this sort of stuff :3
All his true fact videos are amazing and pretty well researched.
He just makes them palatable, enjoy!
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That thing we do where we dump genetically modified mosquitoes into an area to make sterile mosquitoes and kill them off is awesome because the gene dies out after a few years. It'd essentially a temporary and mild extinction we can do. It's amazing because we don't even need to decide if it's correct to kill off a species.
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OP:
Credits to LittleFuzzyWasp
Shilling for big waspa. I shoulda known.
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If nature doesn't owe us safety, we don't owe it kindness either.
What in the giving tree is this bullshit?
Polistes Dominula are just friendly neighbours who like to chill around you when you do stuff with water or food or like to "help" when you DIY. They also gather to cool down in shaded areas around noon. I've never seen the nest, maybe that's why they are so chill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdzuoldCYHw
Ok, fine, educate me, what do wasps contribute to the environment?
They're pollinators. A popular example is figs but you'll see them in flowers just like bees.
People who post shit like this are being intentionally obtuse and provocative. "Wasp" is a big tent classification, and what everyone else thinks of are a few specific creatures.
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant;
Vast majority of things that are "wasps" don't bite/sting and many are important pollinators.
The bitey stingy ones? Fuck em.
You lost me at the end. Now you're the one being obtuse and provocative. Just because something stings or bites doesn't mean it isn't good for the environment.
Just because something is good for the environment doesn't mean the environment can't live without it
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As someone who has a live and let live attitude towards most insects....when I got swarmed by ground wasps while weeding out my garden I had no mercy for them after. Aggressive doesn't even describe how pissed they get.
It was the first time I didn't feel bad about using insecticide. So yeah, the hyper aggressive, stinging ones can fuck right off.
I've found the best thing to use against wasps is diatomaceous earth. It's non-toxic, and just very tiny silicate animals that get into their joints. It kills the entire nest and not much else around it.
That's what they used when the wasps were in my siding and stinging me in my bed at night.
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They eat the things that eat the things you eat.
(e.g. aphids, caterpillars and mfcking thrips and leaf miners)
PS: ok just one more: if bees are the plant matchmakers, wasps are broad spectrum pest exterminators.
.... they eat me?
Not unless you are already dead 😁 they like carrion too.
Yeah… well the also eat my peaches and plums. So they eat my food, and that just ain’t cool. On top of that they set up shop by my front door and then sting me for just walking into MY house where I was letting them make a little room of their own. Not no more. Them bitchass mfers are back in hell where they belong, and my world is much better since I opened that portal for them.
yea, ok, we got rid of our peaches anyway, it wasn't that bad :D but yea, keep boundaries, ok.
Many wasp species, while not considered pollinators, still transport pollen and pollinate plants. Others hunt pest insects. There are also many species that are vital as prey for birds
Figs.
That's only some types of figs and one type of tiny wasp. Most figs we eat are virgin fruit.
Shitty wasps like Yellow Jackets give almost all the other wasps a bad reputation. Yellow Jackets are mean and spiteful, even when they aren't protecting their nest.
Most other eusocial wasps are pretty docile, unless you mess with their nest or really go out of your way to harass them.
In many parts of the world, like my own, there are far more species of solitary wasps than eusocial wasps. Solitary wasps are nearly all non-aggressive, they don't have communal nests to defend, and they basically don't have time to fuck around with stinging shit because they are too busy building a chamber for their eggs, collecting food for their upcoming progeny, and trying to stay fed and hydrated while doing it.
So what I'm getting at is that most wasps I encounter on a regular basis are pretty chill. Really, this goes for bees as well. Most of the ones I see on a regular basis are solitary types and non-aggressive. The most aggressive bees I tend to encounter are male carpenter bees. They are highly territorial and they'll even buzz a human to scare them off. However, there's no threat. Male bees and wasps cannot sting, they do not even have stingers.
The most aggressive bees I tend to encounter are male carpenter bees. They are highly territorial and they'll even buzz a human to scare them off. However, there's no threat.
No threat of stinging, anyway. They will absolutely wreak havoc on a wood framed house.
bzzzzbzzzBZZZZZ
Yes, sir, I see you. I see your little pile of sawdust on the fence, too. No, I'm not going to screw with it. I'm just installing this gate latch."
bzzzbzbbzbbzbzbzbzbzzzzz
This would go a lot faster if I didn't have to keep ducking.
BZZZZZZ
Okay, I'm done, jeez.
BZZZZZzzzbzzzz^bzzzz^
...aaaaand under the fascia board it goes. Shit.
As far as I'm aware, it's the females that dig the holes in wood as a nesting chamber, not the males. So I don't think the males are even a thread to a wood framed house.
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What about ticks?
Yeah, fuck ticks and wasps
No, wasps are fine and help deal with invasive species, you just have to not bother them. Ticks on the other hand are bad for everyone involved and deserve to be dropped into a tornado of bleach. If that seems weirdly specific, it's because some scientists did that, then wrote a paper encouraging others to drop ticks into bleach tornadoes.
That was just so they could study the microbiome in the tick's gut without the bacteria on it's surface contaminating the sample.
I stopped being scared of wasps after learning how to read their body language. Quiet buzzing and relaxed wings = calm, whereas loud buzzing and raised wings = mad. Plus, as long as you're not allergic, a sting is just temporary pain, which definitely isn't worth taking their life. Wasps are literally just animals, and we should be kind to them.