• @CryptidBestiary@lemmy.worldOP
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      319 months ago

      Yup, while they don’t collect pollen, they do visit flowers to find nectar for themselves. They inadvertently transfer pollen from plant to plant.

    • Nightwatch Admin
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      239 months ago

      No, the idea is that bees are useful because pollinators, and honey.
      However, wasps may not be the friendliest creatures around, but they are certainly useful too - like cleaning up corpses, leftovers, and last but not least they eat insects that we think of as plagues

        • @wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world
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          99 months ago

          but have you tried to find out if we really can’t live without them? because I would definitely support the anti-wasp movement

          • @MintyAnt@lemmy.world
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            89 months ago

            As they are insect hunters, yes their absence would fuck up our already damaged ecosystem. I would guess it would lead to a different insect getting out of control and causing tons of problems - like a non native leaf miner who then proceeds to multiply like crazy and obliterate all leaves off trees kind of deal.

          • @Sotuanduso@lemm.ee
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            19 months ago

            Anti-mosquitoes first please. I have yet to hear a single good point in defense of mosquitoes (unless they just went down the memory hole.)

    • @benignintervention@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Check out the book (or audiobook) Endless Forms by Seirian Sumner! It’s a fascinating exploration of the different kinds of wasps and their role in their environments. For example, some figs can only be polite (typo: pollinated) but a certain species of wasp and some wasps use antibacterial compounds to coat their nests.

      • @EveryMuffinIsNowEncrypted
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        9 months ago

        That depends. How indepth is it? Are there pictures? I ask because I generally don’t like bugs. They give me the heebie-jeeies. Especially big insects or swarms of insects. Which is a shame because they are fascinating creatures regardless.

        • I honestly have no idea if there are pictures because I listened to it, but it does have a pretty accessible breakdown of their anatomy, physiology, and evolutionary biology. Like David Attenborough, but with more words instead of video, and more of the author’s story.

          • @EveryMuffinIsNowEncrypted
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            39 months ago

            Ooh, I forgot about audiobooks! I might see if that’s in my library’s collection!

            Thanks!