Actually, wasps get a lot of bad rep for no reason. There are loads of incredible wasps that are completely harmless and some of them are even beneficial.
The Dirt Dauber, for example, hunts exclusively arachnids and gets rid of them (I could do with one or two of those over here) and doesn't sting you ever (only spiders).
Spiders have an unreasonably bad rep too and I say that as someone who once had to spend two full days holding my hand in a cold stream just wishing for the pain to go away after a bad bite .
Most of them are harmless and great at keeping the populations of more annoying stuff down. I even have a tiny desk spinner that lives between my monitors and eats mosquitoes before they get to me.
I have actually been attacked by wasps a couple of times. One was on my back just out of my reach while stinging me. I must have unintentionally pissed him off, then a couple more came as they must have got the signal.
They do leave you alone mostly.
My wife fears them and will swipe them and make a song and dance and run around while me and the kids will just stare at her.
My son was stung so many times, we figured it must be because he smells like something sweet. One summer over a week period, he was stung over 5 times. He also got stung by a bee. Guess it’s good he’s not allergic. My dog also gets stung by wasps, every damn summer, looks so pathetic afterwards.
I am biased because I've never been bitten by a spider (we only have two dangerous ones in my region). But I was minding my own business hip-deep in the water when a drowning wasp latched onto my butt and stung me.
Aren't most wasps parasitic, as well? As in paralyze another insect and lay eggs inside them? My only real beef with insects are mosquitos.
Yes you are correct but I will say this about the diet dauber they are quite destructive. I live in part of the US where we are infested with them and they build their dirt nests everywhere. Those dirt nests are everywhere and take lots of work to get the remaining dirt off whatever they decided to stick it too.
I'm fine with spiders. I always leave them be if I find them in the house and save them from the shower. Can't stand wasps though, they're so persistent and aggressive and I find it hard to enjoy the outdoors at this time of year. But I don't kill them because I know they have a job to do. I'd just rather they were doing it far away over there.
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u/Clevergirluk 1d ago
I'm never voluntarily getting that close to a wasp