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Who cares if all the wasps die out? Not me!
21-07-2013, 08:51 PM (This post was last modified: 21-07-2013 08:59 PM by Minty.)
Post: #1
Smile Who cares if all the wasps die out? Not me!
Apparantly we're all to be very concerned about the declining wasp population in the country.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23356578

Two bad years they've had on the trot & this year's freak warm spell followed by a freezing cold spring killed a lot of queens emerging too early & which unlike bumble bees didn't have a fur coat to protect them.

Sohappy
The experts say they form an important part of the balance of nature in keeping other insects down, & we should be concerned there's less of them.

What a load of traffic bollards!

There's plenty of natural predators of flies & other beasties to take their place. Like sparrows, whose numbers have crashed due to a lack of insects to feed their young with early in the year. Spiders as well, which wasps kill & steal insects caught in their webs (have saw this happen first hand).

Wasps also attack beehives in order to kill a competitor for pollen & feed them to their larvae. As bees are in decline due to viruses, even less reason to feel any sympathy for wasps. A neighbour of mine kept bees & twice had half his colonies wiped out due to mass wasp attacks. Once a hive is attacked once, a large number of bees are taken off other duties solely to protect the hive, growth is stunted & thus honey production.

The only good wasp is a dead one - they are the neo-nazis thugs of the insect world without any redeeming qualities & the planet would be well rid of them.

Egyptiandance Wacko Fryingpan

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22-07-2013, 04:31 PM
Post: #2
RE: Who cares if all the wasps die out? Not me!
Yay - die, wasps! We had to deal with a wasp nest here earlier in the week, particularly important since someone is allergic to their sting. Nature will sort out the balance of predator and prey just fine and I'd be quite happy if the new mix didn't include wasps.
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23-09-2013, 02:10 PM
Post: #3
RE: Who cares if all the wasps die out? Not me!
Here we are near the end of September & the wasps are going in & out of the flowers, plus picking on the poor spiders (stealing from their webs or taking them back to the bike for food). I thought the cold snap & rain had finished them off, but it looks like the nests are still active from their activities.

Another load of bollards in the paper today about what important pollinators they are. Not as much as bees & flies which they prey on (esp. hover flies, the gardener & farmer's best friend as a pollinator & their larvae munch through lots of aphids mercilessly).
The Chinese have sent out their army to burn wasps nests this year. They have the right idea! Yahoo

Egyptiandance Wacko Fryingpan

[Image: 135762.jpg]
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25-09-2013, 03:21 PM
Post: #4
RE: Who cares if all the wasps die out? Not me!
Lol, you really hate wasps, don't you!

I have not seen so many recently. I have, however, been almost completely overrun with spiders indoors. Yesterday I put a few out. I don't like the ones with really long, spindly legs (like Mr Tickle), nor those with very large, solid bodies. A nice medium-size spider can stay in the house, all the others have to go out into the garden. One is living in the window vent and keeps catching these iridescent flies, sucking out their innards and then chucking their outer bodies on the floor. Littering, that's what I call it!
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26-09-2013, 09:55 PM
Post: #5
RE: Who cares if all the wasps die out? Not me!
I was washing the windows today inside & out, & deliberately didn't disturb one going down from one window top to the sill. A garden spider had taken a notion to making a monster one there overnight & I felt guilty at destroying all its hard work so left alone. The fumes from the window cleaner will probably cause it to break but principle of it & all that crap.

Over in the other corner was one of those orb weavers with the very long front legs. It'll have a new web knocked up this time tomorrow no doubt.

The ones like Mr Tickle. Do you mean Harvestmen (they look like something from War Of The Worlds)? Have a word with those spiders littering the empty husks on the deck - remind them they belong in the recycling bin. Tease
Wasps still about, one getting the business end of a bottle of Stardrops when it refused to go away at high speed. Definitely a six! I expect my County call up any day.

Egyptiandance Wacko Fryingpan

[Image: 135762.jpg]
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27-09-2013, 09:16 AM
Post: #6
RE: Who cares if all the wasps die out? Not me!
Yes, my Mr Tickles = Harvestmen-type spiders. Their spindly legs freak me out a bit. Also they are too fast-moving. I like a ponderous, easy-to-put-a-jam-jar-over spider.

There were some really beautiful webs to be seen earlier in the week because the morning started out very misty and the webs were all highlighted with dew. It was amazing to see how many webs there were all over hedges and gates. People were stopping to stare at them. It looked as though someone had gone OTT with 'natural' Halloween decorations.
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