Bees Yes, Wasps No?

The more I learn about the horticulture, the more I read about the importance of bees for pollination of plants. Well the wasps in my garden far out number the bees, they seems to be everywhere so it got me hoping that they were benefiting me in some way. I did some research and this is what I read from an entomologist (one who studies insects):

Most wasp species are predators. Their function is in the control of many other insect species. They are actually very effective parasitoids, and because of this efficiency they have been used for decades as biological control agents. Many crop pests including hornworms and scale insects which cost millions of dollars in loss annulally are controled by wasps. Without these predators, tomatoes, oranges, tobacco, and many other important crops would be so scarce that the price of them would skyrocket.

Their method of efficiency is that they will lay one egg on the back of a caterpillar, and throught the process of polyembrony, the egg multiplies itself, producing hundreds of larvae. These larvae hatch, kill the caterpillar, and pupate. Once development is compltete, the newly formed wasps will emerge and go out in search of their own caterpillar to deposit eggs on. After a year, there are millions of these wasps and they are naturally able to control the number of potentially devastating pest species.

In nature, most moths and beetles have some species of wasp that is their specific parasitoid. Without these parasitoids, longhorn beetles would reduce the forest to sawdust and caterpillars would strip every leaf off of every plant they can find. Wasps act to control theri numbers, and keep a balance between the pests and the hosts.

Certain wasps, like yellow jackets (the ones by the picnic table) are actually pollinators and ensure the survival of many plant species, just like their very close relatives, the bees.

Sounds good!