Wasps are a fascinating group of insects and include both social and solitary kinds. It is a large group: about 7,000 species in the UK. I am going to describe just two of the nine social wasps which all have a single queen and many workers. (Look up the numerous solitary UK wasps which have diverse and unusual lives – for instance the Potter wasp.)
Wasps can disrupt summer picnics, but they are very important for keeping the ecosystem balanced and providing us with natural pest control. They are top of the food chain predators and keep other invertebrate populations in check. Without wasps our world might be overrun with spiders and insects.
Each summer social wasps in the UK capture roughly 14 million kilograms of insect prey such as caterpillars, greenfly and common flies. These they feed, nicely chopped up, to the young wasp larvae in their impressive nests.Adult wasps only feed on sugars that they get from overripe fruit and flower nectar. A consequence of their feeding on nectar is that they pollinate flowers and crops as they eat.
In Britain colonies of social wasps never get huge because the cold of winter kills the workers, the males and the old queens, only some young queens hibernating in the earth or in tree bark survive.
Our commonest wasp, Vespa vulgaris, the yellow jacket, is, as its local name suggests, predominantly yellow with bold black stripes and the slender ‘wasp waist’, beloved of fashion designers throughout the centuries.
Initially the queen is alone and nest builds by herself as well as gathering insects for feeding her first brood of larvae that are white grubs when they emerge from the egg. At this stage the beautifully constructed papery nest of hexagonal cells is the size of a golf ball. Once the worker wasps are hatched they help to enlarge the nest that can become as big as a football by late autumn. If a nest is disturbed when rough grass is being mown or hedges trimmed back wasps will defend it by stinging nearby humans or animals. This is defensive behaviour and if left alone they tend not to be aggressive.
Eminent Victorian and friend of Charles Darwin, Sir John Lubbock had a pet wasp he found in the Pyrenese. He was fascinated by the intelligence of animals including bees and wasps. He discovered these insects were clever and communicative. He fed his wasp by hand and could stroke her. She stung him only once when travelling he had to put her hastily into a glass bottle to get out his railway ticket.
European hornet by AleksandrsBalodis
The European hornet, Vespa crabro, is the UK’s only native hornet species and is the largest social wasp. It is large and impressive but docile, only aggressive if attacked and has to protect itself or its colony. It is striped, but instead of the yellow and black of the common wasp it has chestnut brown and yellowy-orange stripes. It is a handsome insect and drones as it flies. Workers measure between 18 – 25mm and live for just 3 – 4 weeks. The queen is larger, often 35mm long.
Hornets like wooded areas and predominantly inhabit the south of England. They often build their wonderful papery nests in hollow trees. Last year when the leaves began to drop from my quince tree I found a beautiful dome-shaped nest suspended from a branch. This was late September and all the hornets had gone. They gave me no trouble. I never knew they were there.
The yellow-legged Asian hornet Vespa velutina, is non-native and one to report because it kills and voraciously eats honey bees. It has been sighted occasionally in Kentand East Sussex. It is smaller than our native hornet. Its thorax is a velvety black or darkest brown and it has a fine yellow-orange band on the fourth section of its abdomen. Its brown legs look as if they have been dipped in yellow paint.It can be reported via the Asian Hornet Ap.
Two thousand years ago wasps prompted an observant Chinese man, Cai Lun, watching them building and making wood pulp in his garden, to invent paper which has been hugely important to our written culture and to art. It is painful and unpleasant to be stung by a wasp and dangerous if you are allergic to their poison. However they are beautiful and intelligent insects and keep our eco-system balanced. Their intricate and beautiful structures have inspired architects and designers.
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