END WASPISM!
OK, wasps can seem annoying, but compared to their close cousins the bees, they get a really bad press. Both bees and wasps are facinating and essential pollinators, both contribute to local ecology in different ways and both have invaluable specialisms that aid human horticulture. It’s actually hard to decide which is more significant, but it’s clear which has the best PR department.
Oddly, this apparent Waspism isn’t just a feature of the general public’s understandable if under-informed reaction, it actually seems to reflect the predisposition of pukka insect scientists too.
Researchers at University College London reviewed 908 relevent published papers (since 1980) and found that only 22 studies were found relating to wasps. For reasons which are hard to explain, a stunning 97.6% of published papers related to bees. Delving further, they also found that of “2,543 conference abstracts on bees or wasps from the last twenty years, 81.3% were on bees”. Such apparent Waspism clearly should be challenged.
Reported on the UCL Web Sept 2018
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