SCIENTISTS LOOK TO REHABILITATE WASPS’ IMAGE

Wasps have long been reviled by humanity, and even made Charles Darwin question his faith because he could not see why a beneficent God would create such nefarious creatures.

But scientists at University College London are trying to rehabilitate their image to prevent them from dying out.

Conservationists argue that the insects are crucial for pollination and should garner the same respect as bees.

“It’s clear we have a very different emotional connection to wasps than to bees,” said Seirian Sumner, one of the authors of a study on wasps.

Wasps, like bees, are crucial to ecology, helping to fertilize flowers and crops, and keeping down pests. But like bees, wasp populations have collapsed by around 50 per cent in just 20 years.