Pollinators - wasps and hoverflies leaflet

Let’s hear it for hoverflies
Hoverflies are frequent visitors to flowers in sunny places in your garden, hovering around deciding which flower to land on. Most hoverflies feed on nectar, but some species such as the common marmalade hoverfly also feed on pollen.
Hoverflies are the most important pollinators among flies.


Helping our pollinators
Scotland’s pollinators are a vital part of our biodiversity. Species such as bees and hoverflies are a familiar sight in our gardens, parks and countryside. They play a crucial role in our food and farming industries, as well as contributing to our enjoyment of the outdoors and our health and wellbeing
But our wild pollinators are under threat. Faced with pressures that include habitat fragmentation, changes in land use, disease, pesticides and climate change they need our help.
The Pollinator Strategy for Scotland is the work of many partners. Delivering a wide range of activities it draws together the expertise and enthusiasm of a wide range of organisations, government agencies and businesses.
Our main objectives are to:
- Make Scotland more pollinator-friendly;
- Improve our understanding of these vital insects and the services they provide;
- Raise awareness of and encourage action to help bees and other pollinating insects; and
- Monitor and evaluate whether they are thriving.
We have lots of information on how to help pollinators on our website at Helping Scotland's Pollinators.
Follow us on twitter @ScotPollinators
And read our regular blogs @ scottishpollinators.wordpress.com/
Misunderstood?
The common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) and its close relative, the German wasp (Vespula germanica), feed mostly on high-energy sugars and carbohydrates from foods such as nectar and fruit.
The adult wasps take caterpillars, flies, spiders and beetles to their young, acting as a natural pest control agent and giving gardeners a helping hand.
When wasps hover over your lemonade or sandwich, they are only interested in the food and will not deliberately attack you. To avoid close encounters keep food in sealed containers and put rubbish into bins. Flailing your arms increases the chances of entrapping the wasp, which could then sting you.
Some people confuse hoverflies with wasps. Hoverflies can look like wasps or bees. This helps them avoid the interest of predators. There are over 250 species of hoverfly in Britain. They can be a great ally in the garden as many of them feed on pests, such as aphids.



Whose picnic is it?
Wasps may threaten to spoil your picnic, but without them, your party could have been deprived of bread, beer and wine. Yeast (specifically, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) has been fundamental to baking, brewing and winemaking throughout human history. In nature, yeast cells are found primarily on ripe fruits during the summer months. Since yeast is not airborne, it must rely on vectors to move from plant to plant.
For years it has been assumed that birds or bees were responsible for transporting yeast cells, but nobody could explain how they survived the winter. Italian researchers suspected that wasps were involved since they feed on yeast-harbouring grapes.
The research team analysed samples from vineyards around Italy to find several species and hundreds of strains of yeast in the wasps’ guts. Also, yeast survived the winter in the insects’ guts, and was transferred to the larvae via the food regurgitated by the queen. The team believed that birds too are involved in the life cycle of yeasts, but wasps seem to be especially important.


Master engineers
Wasps build their nest with a strong, lightweight paperlike material produced by a mix of saliva and scraped wood, which is chewed up to a pulp.
The queen kick-starts it by building a column and coating it with a chemical that repels ants. Then she builds cells around it, all in clusters of hexagonal units. Workers expand the nest by building more cells, ventilating them by vibrating their wings. The cells’ hexagonal configuration maximises strength and efficiency, as they demand the least amount of energy and building material.
Wasps are not aggressive outside the nest, however they may defend their nest if it is disturbed or threatened. If you find yourself near a nest, retreat without producing much vibration or noise.
© Lorne Gill/NatureScot - Image 2,3,5,6,8
© Caroline Anderson - Cover image, 4,7
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