In a recent conversation about food chains, a colleague wondered if anything ate wasps. Someone suggested 鈥渧ery stupid birds鈥�. Does anyone know any more about this?
鈥� The lowly wasp certainly has its place in the food chain. Indeed, the question should possibly be 鈥渨hat doesn鈥檛 feed, in one way or another, on this lowly and potentially dangerous insect?鈥�
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Here are a few that do, the first list being invertebrates: several species of dragonflies (Odonata); robber and hoverflies (Diptera); wasps (Hymenoptera), usually the larger species feeding on smaller species, such as social paper wasps (Vespula maculata) eating V. utahensis; beetles (Coleoptera); and moths (Lepidoptera).
The following are vertebrates that feed on wasps: numerous species of birds, skunks, bears, badgers, bats, weasels, wolverines, rats, mice and last, but certainly not least, humans and probably some of our closest ancestors.
I have eaten the larvae of several wasp species fried in butter, and found them quiet tasty.
Orvis Tilby, Salem, Oregon, US
鈥� The definitive source on European birds, Birds of the Western Palearctic, lists a remarkable 133 species that at least occasionally consume wasps. The list includes some very unexpected species, such as willow warblers, pied flycatchers and Alpine swifts, but two groups of birds are well-known for being avid vespivores. Bee-eaters (Meropidae) routinely devour wasps, destinging them by wiping the insect vigorously against a twig or wire. And honey buzzards raid hives for food. They are especially partial to bee larvae, but in the UK, wasps 鈥� again mostly larvae 鈥� also form a major part of their diet.
Simon Woolley, Winchester, Hampshire, UK
鈥� The photograph (top right), taken in my garden, shows a mason wasp having its internal juices removed via the proboscis of a large insect.
Tim Hart, La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain
鈥� In July 1972 I was snorkelling off the Californian island of Catalina. I returned to the east cliff of the island as sunlight was leaving the shore. In a crevice at the base of the cliff I saw a crab holding a wasp, which was still moving.
My photograph (middle right) shows the right pincer holding part of the wasp while the left pincer carries the wasp鈥檚 abdomen to the crab鈥檚 mouth.
The crab did not show any sign that it was startled by the taste of its meal.
Garry Tee, Auckland, New Zealand
鈥� Badgers will dig out a wasps鈥� nest and eat the larvae and their food base. The picture (bottom right) shows an underground nest demolished in the summer of 2003.
Tony Jeans, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK
鈥� I was once idly observing a wasp crawling round the edge of a water lily leaf in my pond when it paused to drink. There was a sudden flurry of activity when a frog leapt from its hiding place and swallowed the wasp.
The frog did not appear to suffer any ill effects, so I captured another wasp, tossed the hapless creature into the pond and waited. The frog was slow on the uptake, but there was another disturbance in the water and this time a goldfish snapped up the wasp. The fish, too, seemed undisturbed.
My curiosity now thoroughly aroused, I wondered whether the fish could be induced to consume further wasps. For the next hour or so I continued to hunt down luckless wasps and throw them into the pond. Some got away, some were eaten by the fish, and a few were swallowed by the frogs.
John Crofts, Nottingham, UK
鈥� Returning home late one night I heard the persistent buzzing of a wasp in the kitchen window. It appeared to be struggling around at the bottom of the window, unable to fly properly. A tiny red spider was attached to the underside of its abdomen. The spider must have been some 20 times smaller than the wasp and was positioned where the wasp was unable to mount a counter-attack.
The next morning revealed an empty, transparent wasp exoskeleton.
John Walter Haworth, Exeter, Devon, UK