Why are wasps here? Are they here for any other reason than to be a pest?

Answer 1

The kind of wasp that you consider a pest (the black and yellow striped kind) actually spends most of its life eating greenfly and other small insects. It's only towards the end of the year that they feed on sugar from fruit and are attracted to our food. The only flower that they actually assist in pollinating to any extent is english ivy.

They are really only a pest for a month or so (apart from when they choose to build their nest in an inconvenient place). They actually do far more good than harm.

People sometimes go mad when they see a wasp (or a bee) but a wasp will rarely sting unless it thinks it is in danger, so batting it will only enrage it and make it sting.

Answer 2

Most wasp species are predators. Their function is in the control of many other insect species. They are actually very effective parasitoids, and because of this efficiency they have been used for decades as biological control agents. Many crop pests including hornworms and scale insects which cost millions of dollars in loss annulally are controled by wasps. Without these predators, tomatoes, oranges, tobacco, and many other important crops would be so scarce that the price of them would skyrocket.
Their method of efficiency is that they will lay one egg on the back of a caterpillar, and throught the process of polyembrony, the egg multiplies itself, producing hundreds of larvae. These larvae hatch, kill the caterpillar, and pupate. Once development is compltete, the newly formed wasps will emerge and go out in search of their own caterpillar to deposit eggs on. After a year, there are millions of these wasps and they are naturally able to control the number of potentially devastating pest species.
In nature, most moths and beetles have some species of wasp that is their specific parasitoid. Without these parasitoids, longhorn beetles would reduce the forest to sawdust and caterpillars would strip every leaf off of every plant they can find. Wasps act to control theri numbers, and keep a balance between the pests and the hosts.
Certain wasps, like yellow jackets (the ones by the picnic table) are actually pollinators and ensure the survival of many plant species, just like their very close relatives, the bees.


I hope that answers your question!

Answer 3

the lowly wasp certainly has its palce in the food chain. a number of invertebrate animals eat wasps including dragonflies, robber and hoverflies, wasps (larger species eat the smaller ones) beetles and moths. The vertebrates that eat wasps include several species of birds, skunks, bears, badgers, bats, weasles, wolverines, rats, mice!!!

Answer 4

there are some species of wasp that hatch their eggs on a tarantula's body, and eventually the spider dies.
if there are no wasps, my god! you would have giant spiders as pests. :)

Answer 5

Everbody is a pest
Human being are the biggest of pests
It is just how you look at existance

Answer 6

"Wasps derive all of their energy from nectar or the sweet secretions from their brood." - wikipedia.

Therefore they serve a pollen-spreading purpose.

But yes, also extremely annoying

Answer 7

Why are Humans here? Are they here for any other reason than to breed like viruses until they kill the planet Earth?

Answer 8

the only reason is to be a pest and spoil any hot days we may have.

Answer 9

Nothing has to be anywhere. An organism does not have to justify its existence to anyone by having a "purpose".

Answer 10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp