News Headline
We faced abuse for asking people to kill wasps for science – here’s why it was worthwhile
Source
The Conversation
Publication Date
2017-09-28
When we launched a citizen science project earlier this year, we didn’t expect to get in so much trouble. We wanted to public to help us find out more about social wasps (the black-and-yellow striped insects that bother us at picnics and BBQs) and so we launched the Big Wasp Survey. Social wasps are essential pest-controllers and pollinators, but some species are declining while others are expanding their populations and range. Without basic data on the abundance and distribution of these wasps, we can’t conserve (or control) them.