I understand bees; but what use are wasps?

Question

I mean the striped flying creatures.

Answer 1

Wasps also pollenate some plants. They also eat other insects and rotting food. Anything that eats rotting things is very important to keep the Earth clean. Some wasps actually kill insects that would eat our crops if they didn't kill them. Every thing has it's nitch that it fills in nature, even blood sucking varmints like mosquitos, ticks and fleas. Sometimes it's difficult to see the value of something that is annoying, has a painful sting, or carries diseases, but that's just the way nature is. If there is a food source that is not being taken advantage of, some organism will come along and find a way to live off that food source. Sometimes, their bodies changed over time to make it easier for them to eat that food.

While wasps seem like a total pain, and useless, they are only trying to protect themselves when they sting a human. I've lived all my life in a rural area around bees, wasps, black widow spiders, poisonous snakes, etc. and I've been stung only once by a honey bee, twice by a red wasp, and maybe five times by yellow jackets. After 47 years, that's not really a lot considering I do lots of gardening and work outside most of the time. I just respect their territory and try not to upset them. However, yellow jackets are easily upset and will sting you even if they just accidentally bump into you, so I keep well away from them.

Answer 2

Like you I often wondered where wasps came into the great scheme of things till one day I was sitting in my garden. I watched a wasp catch a fly, sting it to death and then carefully dissect it. It bit off the legs, wings and head then flew off with the abdomen leaving all the rest behind. It was quite a remarkable if not slightly gory thing to watch. Flies versus wasps? Give me a wasp any time.

Answer 3

If you mean what use are they to humans, they look nice, they kill large numbers of small garden pests such as sawfly, caterpillers, aphids, and flies, also helping to maintain the balance of nature.

Apart from that they encourage some human beings to perform some hilarious dances as they wave their arms about, in an apparent attempt to scare the wasp so much that it will sting them.

I rescued a wasp from certain death, by allowing it to walk onto my hand, and I walked outside with it, so it could fly free.

Answer 4

This article pretty much answers your question perfectly: pest control, vegetation limits, and pollination (just like bees)
http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/more_wasps.shtml

Answer 5

Yellow Jackets.

Answer 6

Not sure what you meant by use? What use are we to them? Ha.

But, I am sure you are asking is there any way that they help people.

Some are economically important in that some are natural enemies of insect pests, and some are pollinators.

Answer 7

Many of them lay their eggs in caterpillars paralyzing the caterpillars with their stingers so that their larvae can eat that caterpillar alive. That keeps down the population of many harmful caterpillars that could damage crops or forests.

Answer 8

Bee's with an attitude.
They help you pay attention.

Answer 9

they eat green fly and annoy me

Answer 10

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