Hymenoptera - Blog Posts

Wasps are great! Some social wasps can not only recognize individuals of their own species, they can recognize humans as well and “befriend” people!

I’ve had positive experiences with the yellowjackets that live around campus at my school- my school is full of insect lovers who are pretty chill about them, and I think they recognize that at least some of the humans around them are friendly, as they’ll often land on me or share a bite of my lunch, but have never stung me or been aggressive, and I haven’t heard anyone talk about them stinging people.

There are also lots of cool wasps outside of yellowjackets and hornets, many of which cannot sting. Some of them are ridiculously tiny- the smallest insect in the world is a type of fairy wasp smaller than some single-called parameciums and amoebas. (Wikipedia article here if you’re interested.) Wasps are incredibly diverse and beautiful, and we needn’t fear and loathe them because a few of them might sting.

[Image description from alt text: A photo of a small brown wasp pollinating a dandelion. Only part of the dandelion flower is visible, because it dwarfs the wasp in size. The wasp has faint, light stripes on its abdomen, bent antennae, and purplish eyes.]

I saw this posted on reddit to a wholesome memes sub, and it was full of nothing but people being unnecessarily awful on a post trying to spread information about why these creatures are beautiful and worthy of living. (Interesting note: They don't need a reason to be allowed to live.) I got sick of trying to correct people on there who were more interested in hating wasps than hearing the truth.

Honestly, it's just exhausting sometimes.

Source: @shencomix - Thanks for helping to spread the word, buddy.

NO ANTI-WASP SENTIMENTS ON THIS POST

Wow. Just wow. I’d heard about bees playing, but I didn’t know some of the other cool things mentioned in this video, like the fact that bees can learn by watching others. 💛🐝

This is why I don’t squash insects that happen to wander into the house. This is why I am against that sort of careless killing. Because we so drastically underestimate what insects are capable of. They are living beings, quite possibly each with their own desires and fears and inner lives. Many people forget that insects are animals. Many people forget that so are we.

honestly, the things that insects are capable of will never cease to amaze me