This article is published in conjunction with the article "Mosquitos: The Superior Stinging Insect" by Simon Glassenberg
I’m terrified of wasps. In fact, the most challenging part about writing this article for me was the fact that whenever I Googled information about wasps, I would be greeted with an up-close photo of the most horrifically unnatural yet natural wasp photo anyone had ever seen (shoutout to you, giant Asian hornet). Whenever I see a wasp—or a bee for that matter—it feels as if some primal part of my brain yells, “Run,” “Hide,” or “At least tense up!”
The stigma about wasps, according to Wiley Online Library, stems from our so-called “creepy crawler detector,” which applies to all arthropods such as spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and, of course, wasps, eliciting such natural responses as illustrated above. There’s absolutely nothing inviting about the alien design of wasps, especially when compared to the fuzzy “cute” exterior of honeybees—another case of pretty privilege. I completely understand the fear and aversion expressed towards wasps, as they’re often portrayed as ‘aggressive bees that do nothing helpful for the environment.’
The cultural aversion towards these creatures even permeates CA. Concord Academy does not boast a Wasp Club (which is likely a good thing, as new parents combing through the club offerings could seemingly misconstrue it), whereas Bee Club has had a firm run for the past few years.
There’s nothing I hate more than sitting on the Stu-Fac Patio on one of the few hot spring days when someone makes the cardinal mistake of bringing cranberry juice outside, only to be swarmed by tens of hundreds of wasps, making the entire area inaccessible; however, I feel that wasps are likely one of the most misunderstood insects on the planet.
I argue that the hate for wasps is too generalized and that these widespread comments of disdain are misplaced. Despite the reputation that wasps get, the real root of humanity’s issues lies within their arthropod kin—the mosquito.
Wasps, contrary to popular belief, are just as responsible for pollination as bees are, and on top of that, wasps act as a natural pest control against bugs that have the potential to damage crop yields. What do mosquitoes do? Sure, they’re a source of food for certain species of birds, frogs, and spiders, and a few of the 3,500 species sometimes pollinate, but at the same time, they’re one of the deadliest animals of all time. According to Maclean’s Magazine, a Canadian publication, mosquito-borne illnesses have killed 52 billion people out of the roughly 108 billion that have ever lived. That is nearly 50% of the entire human population over the course of history. Compare this figure with the under 14 million people wasps have been estimated to have killed. Whether it’s malaria, West Nile, dengue, zika, yellow fever, triple E, St. Louis encephalitis, Western Equine encephalitis, or chikungunya, mosquitos have a specific knack for carrying some of the world’s most dangerous diseases.
Sure, mosquitos themselves don’t create and intentionally pass these diseases; however, it’s rather challenging to argue that these creatures’ long-term effects haven’t devastated the human world around them.
Not only are these bites itchy, annoying, and have the potential to devastate you and your family’s lives, but new reports suggest that introducing mosquito saliva into your bloodstream can potentially impact your immune system. According to the National Institute of Health, “mosquito saliva may enhance pathogenicity [ability of an organism to create disease] of arboviruses [arthropod-borne diseases like dengue fever or zika] by manipulating the host’s immune response.” What this means is that the introduction of mosquito saliva into a host’s bloodstream has the potential to alter the immune response from the host in a way that benefits introduced arthropod viruses—such as creating an environment better for the replication and facilitation of arthropod-borne illnesses, ultimately making them more severe. Though this area of research is still undergoing testing, it’s challenging, in light of the evidence, to argue that mosquitoes are less of a threat than wasps.
Overall, I would argue the fear of wasps over mosquitos boils down to how acclimated each individual is with mosquitoes in their personal life. A mosquito is so tiny you can barely see it, and everyone’s gotten at least one bite before (something that’s even challenging to notice), whereas a wasp is more prominent. Its respective sting hurts a lot more initially. Being in a swarm of mosquitos is annoying but manageable; being in a swarm of wasps is horrifying, even if one of the two scenarios is, in a technical sense, more dangerous. I would argue that mosquitoes’ danger and long-term potential effects on one’s life far outweigh their seemingly-minute presence in everyday life, a point far more than wasps could ever reach.