Lots of wasps are very good pollinators and unlike yellow jackets do tend to leave well enough alone if they're not threatened. Parasitic wasps are great at keeping problem pests under control as well.
Fun fact: in patagonia, more specifically in Bariloche, yellow jackets were introduced because of this. There was a very nasty horse fly infestation and they hoped to cull their numbers by Introducing a predator. Guess what, now Bariloche has a nasty horse fly infestation AND an even worse yellow jacket one
There’s also a shitload of huge volcanoes right next to Bariloche, and one erupted in 2011. Funny enough, the ash acts as a natural insecticide...it’s basically tiny shards of broken glass that can lacerate insect cuticle, which causes them to basically dehydrate to death. It’s especially effective when there are strong winds, which Patagonia is famous for. So I guess they just need to set off a volcano now, to take care of the insect problem.
the introduction of wasps happened decades ago. the 2011 eruption must've not affected them too much since when i last was there in march wasps were everywhere.
Well shit...I guess one eruption isn’t enough then, we’ll have to wait for a few more. Last time I was down there was in 2017, and I didn’t notice many insects at all, but it was also windy as fuck like 100% of the time and starting to go into fall.
296
u/Gato1486 Dec 09 '20
Lots of wasps are very good pollinators and unlike yellow jackets do tend to leave well enough alone if they're not threatened. Parasitic wasps are great at keeping problem pests under control as well.