Why Are Wasps Important to Our Environment?

Wasps might have a bad reputation, but they are important to the environment in a number of ways. Although wasps are feared for their venomous sting, not all wasps can sting.

Wasps are often portrayed as one of the villains of the animal kingdom, but wasps kill a number of insects that are regarded as pests, acting as a natural pesticide. Parasitic wasps can benefit farmers and farm animals by controlling flies.

Wasps are often overlooked as being important pollinators. Pollinating wasps include the tiny fig wasp of Western Asia, which pollinates about a thousand different species of fig tree, and the scoliid wasp of Australia, which pollinates several types of orchid.

Wasps eat rotting fruit such as apples and act as one of nature's cleaners. Wasps are not always aggressive, but they are territorial. And they sometimes are aggressive after eating fermented fruit, which has an inebriating effect on them.