Bees Only Feed On Nectar And Pollen?

This Bee Actually Eats Meat!

The wasp is one of the most unpopular animals in the world, but now is the time to give them a name.

Bad Reputation Wasp

Everyone likes bees. They are a group of hardworking and helpful little guys, but our view of wasps (also known as wasps or hornet) is far worse. We often use "stabbing a hornet's nest" to describe making a big disaster or annoying someone who is not easy to provoke. It can be seen that the Hornets give the impression of a group of bad guys with grumpy, fierce temperament and strong vengeance.

The common wasp is a predator, which is one of the reasons for its ferocious temperament. Bees only feed on nectar and pollen, while wasps have a wider range of recipes. Adult wasps will occasionally take a bite of nectar from flowers, but small insects are the main food source for wasps and their larvae. In fact, the wasp and the bee shared a common ancestor, and later parted ways. Today, there are far more types of wasps than bees. We can even say that bees are nothing more than a group of wasps "monks" who have given up meat food and become vegetarian.

The common wasps live in groups, sting people, and move out at every turn. This is probably the origin of its notoriety. In fact, there are many types of wasps, but less than one-third of them will actually sting. The stinging wasps are predatory, and the rest are parasitic. Moreover, most species of wasps live alone, living in hidden corners that are not easily noticed. For example, fairy wasps parasitize on the eggs of other insects. Their body is only about 0.14 mm long, which is smaller than a flea and may be the smallest insect. Gall wasps the size of ants have a chemical substance in their spines, which can induce local cell proliferation in plants and grow a kind of cystic tumor nodes commonly known as "galls", and then lay eggs in them.

Wasps Are Great Benefactors Of Plants And Crops

It is undeniable that the common wasps are really grumpy and fierce, but if they are deemed to be a bunch of bad guys based on this, it would be too wrong for them. In fact, they have made valuable contributions to the ecosystem, agricultural production and even our health.

Bees are the main pollinators of many cultivated fruit trees, but wasps are not idlers either. They and other insects pollinate most wild flowers. In fact, some plants are completely dependent on wasps, including nearly 100 species of orchids. The trick of attracting wasps to pollinate these orchids is very cunning. The smell of their flowers is exactly the kind that other plants release when they are attacked by caterpillars. When the wasp smelled the smell, it came to look for its prey, and then, unable to find it, sipped the nectar from the orchid. Orchid nectar contains hypnotic agents. If the wasp drinks too much, it will delay on the orchid for a while, and the time for collecting pollen will be prolonged. If there were no drunken wasps to pollinate them, these elegant plants would become extinct.

The wasp has more direct benefits to us. They are the top third largest insect predator after birds and spiders. It is estimated that a mature wasp colony will eat 3,000 to 4,000 prey per day during the peak season. In the UK alone, wasps eat 14,000 tons of insects every summer.

Many of the wasps’ prey are crop pests, including aphids, caterpillars and flies. In the early 20th century, in order to control the infestation of cotton bollworms, many wasp hives were placed around the Caribbean sponge cotton fields. Similarly, in sugarcane fields in the Philippines, wasps are used to help suppress planthoppers that feed on sugarcane juice. Recent studies have shown that there is a type of wasp that can control the larvae of the two most greedy pests in the world—the sugarcane borer and the fall armyworm.

The Venom Of The Wasp Can Work For Me

Even the stings on the wasp's tail may help us. On average, a sting can release 15 microliters of venom at a time. Venom usually contains histamine that can speed up blood flow, proteases and lipases that can disrupt muscle cells and blood cells, and neurotransmitters that disrupt and stimulate nerves. Generally speaking, as long as you do not deliberately provoke it, the wasp will not attack you at will. A wasp bite can bite out a swelling the size of half a ping-pong ball. Repeated stings can cause redness, nausea, vomiting, wheezing, and confusion. If you have been stung more than 100 times, it is time to seek first aid. There are no anti-drug drugs, but hemodialysis can remove toxins from the blood before major organ damage occurs.

However, it seems paradoxical that wasp venom usually has medical uses. For a long time, in order to relieve the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, beekeepers will deliberately sting themselves. Animal experiments have confirmed that injection of bee venom can relieve the symptoms of arthritis. This may work by stimulating the immune system or increasing the release of corticosteroids, because corticosteroids can reduce inflammation.

Compared with the bee venom of bees, the bee venom of wasp is richer, and as a source of medicine, wasp bee venom may be more useful. Some active ingredients in wasp venom have already shown their power. For example, a venom extract of the Brazilian Hornet can destroy and kill cancer cells by attaching to the cancer cell membrane. In addition, it also shows encouraging antibacterial and antiviral properties. More wasp venom components are being used to treat neurological diseases, allergies and cardiovascular diseases.

In short, due to long-term prejudice, our understanding of the Hornets is still very scarce. A broader understanding of their diversity, evolutionary history, and ecological behavior may help us solve more problems in the future.

From now on, let us stop demonizing the wasp.