this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2024
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[–] [email protected] 134 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Everyone thank OP for pollinating!

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Shilling for big waspa. I shoulda known.

[–] [email protected] 74 points 2 months ago (10 children)

Bees are like carpenters, they carry a knife but you're not worried they might stab you for no reason.

Wasps are like meth heads.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 months ago

They're like meth head gang members that also call their gang to attack you after they do. That's what terrifies me of them.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 2 months ago (8 children)

Shitty wasps like Yellow Jackets give almost all the other wasps a bad reputation. Yellow Jackets are mean and spiteful, even when they aren't protecting their nest.

Most other eusocial wasps are pretty docile, unless you mess with their nest or really go out of your way to harass them.

In many parts of the world, like my own, there are far more species of solitary wasps than eusocial wasps. Solitary wasps are nearly all non-aggressive, they don't have communal nests to defend, and they basically don't have time to fuck around with stinging shit because they are too busy building a chamber for their eggs, collecting food for their upcoming progeny, and trying to stay fed and hydrated while doing it.

So what I'm getting at is that most wasps I encounter on a regular basis are pretty chill. Really, this goes for bees as well. Most of the ones I see on a regular basis are solitary types and non-aggressive. The most aggressive bees I tend to encounter are male carpenter bees. They are highly territorial and they'll even buzz a human to scare them off. However, there's no threat. Male bees and wasps cannot sting, they do not even have stingers.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The most aggressive bees I tend to encounter are male carpenter bees. They are highly territorial and they'll even buzz a human to scare them off. However, there's no threat.

No threat of stinging, anyway. They will absolutely wreak havoc on a wood framed house.

bzzzzbzzzBZZZZZ

Yes, sir, I see you. I see your little pile of sawdust on the fence, too. No, I'm not going to screw with it. I'm just installing this gate latch."

bzzzbzbbzbbzbzbzbzbzzzzz

This would go a lot faster if I didn't have to keep ducking.

BZZZZZZ

Okay, I'm done, jeez.

BZZZZZzzzbzzzz^bzzzz^

...aaaaand under the fascia board it goes. Shit.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Bees, wasps, ok, got it.

But mosquitoes? I'be yet to find a biologist that would advocate for preservation of mosquitos. Kill them with fire.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 months ago (11 children)
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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That thing we do where we dump genetically modified mosquitoes into an area to make sterile mosquitoes and kill them off is awesome because the gene dies out after a few years. It'd essentially a temporary and mild extinction we can do. It's amazing because we don't even need to decide if it's correct to kill off a species.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

It’s also worth noting that this technique has been used primarily in urban areas with introduced species of mosquitoes. It would have different effects if done in wild ecosystems on native species.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (7 children)

Mosquitos are one of the most prolific pollinators, I think you’d find most biologists would tell you this.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Ok, fine, educate me, what do wasps contribute to the environment?

[–] [email protected] 55 points 2 months ago (6 children)

People who post shit like this are being intentionally obtuse and provocative. "Wasp" is a big tent classification, and what everyone else thinks of are a few specific creatures.

A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant;

Vast majority of things that are "wasps" don't bite/sting and many are important pollinators.

The bitey stingy ones? Fuck em.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (2 children)

As someone who has a live and let live attitude towards most insects....when I got swarmed by ground wasps while weeding out my garden I had no mercy for them after. Aggressive doesn't even describe how pissed they get.

It was the first time I didn't feel bad about using insecticide. So yeah, the hyper aggressive, stinging ones can fuck right off.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

They eat the things that eat the things you eat.

(e.g. aphids, caterpillars and mfcking thrips and leaf miners)

PS: ok just one more: if bees are the plant matchmakers, wasps are broad spectrum pest exterminators.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah… well the also eat my peaches and plums. So they eat my food, and that just ain’t cool. On top of that they set up shop by my front door and then sting me for just walking into MY house where I was letting them make a little room of their own. Not no more. Them bitchass mfers are back in hell where they belong, and my world is much better since I opened that portal for them.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago

Many wasp species, while not considered pollinators, still transport pollen and pollinate plants. Others hunt pest insects. There are also many species that are vital as prey for birds

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Of course nature doesn't owe us safety. That's why it's up to us to ensure our own safety by killing it with fire.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago

More wasp propaganda. Nature does not owe me safety. My house siding is NOT NATURE. I WILL REVEL IN THEIR DEATH THROES.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, fuck ticks and wasps

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

No, wasps are fine and help deal with invasive species, you just have to not bother them. Ticks on the other hand are bad for everyone involved and deserve to be dropped into a tornado of bleach. If that seems weirdly specific, it's because some scientists did that, then wrote a paper encouraging others to drop ticks into bleach tornadoes.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago

I will not stand for this Pro wasp propaganda!

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (3 children)
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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Stupid question.

Could a wasp be bred/altered to not have a sting, or at best not have a sting that can penetrate human skin? It's akin to domestication, but we selectively breed wasps to not be such cunts.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

You're thinking of bees. Also iirc wasps used to be the only way to pollinate certain figs, and considering the popularity of figs through history, someone probably attempted this.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I stopped being scared of wasps after learning how to read their body language. Quiet buzzing and relaxed wings = calm, whereas loud buzzing and raised wings = mad. Plus, as long as you're not allergic, a sting is just temporary pain, which definitely isn't worth taking their life. Wasps are literally just animals, and we should be kind to them.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Pest control guy killed the wasps on my balcony without asking :/ I don't even use the balcony, they were just chillin. Now theres just a pile of corpses

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I'm torn by spider wasps. I get irrationally angry when I see one of my wolf spider buddies getting dragged across the yard to their death.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

That's a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Predators are more likely to be keystone species. Spider wasps are predating on predators. You've got enough spiders to keep the bugs in control and wasps to take care of the extra spiders? I'm jealous!

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

listen, i didn't ask to be born with a functional aversion to isopods and insects in general, ok.

I didn't want this shit, but i got it anyway.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

yeah, nature does not owe you safety, which is why i kill wasps on sight because I'm part of nature. get fucked, wasps, we all know you're just fascist bees.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

I know they're important. I'm also afraid of them because some members of my family have had adverse reactions to stings from wasps. I would like wasps to live happy, happy lives far, far away from me.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I haven't killed a wasp in years. And that was only because it was building a nest inside my storm door just above eye level. Surprised the shit out of me because I barely saw the nest in the dark, struggled to change focus, and jumped back once I realized what I was seeing. Was not a fun encounter. It's like, buddy, nobody was gonna be happy with that arrangement.

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