Friday fictioneers – What’s the point of wasps?


“I mean, what’s their point? What do they do for us?” Calum is emphatic in his opinions. He has similar views of football hooligans and foreigners.

“Pollination” I suggest.

A wisp of smoke curls from the pest gun as he advances on the filo-pastry wasp nest.

Calum shakes his great grizzled head. “The beggars stung me for no reason. Bees don’t do that. Bees are useful.”

“Maybe they don’t need to be useful. Perhaps it’s enough that they exist?”

Like an activist protecting a mangrove swamp from a marina developer, I step forward and seize his wrist.




36 thoughts on “Friday fictioneers – What’s the point of wasps?

  1. Ooh, I do like ‘filo pastry wasp nest’ – spot on and original too. Maybe all they need is to exist. But man, they’re unpleasant creatures. They kill bees too. Hmm. Not sure I wouldn’t reach for the pest gun myself.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks Rochelle. I guess my answer to Calum would be if we see the significance of nature only in how it helps us, we’ve already lost the battle (including for those things that do form part of the web that sustains us, even when we don’t yet know how.

      Liked by 2 people

  2. Great story, on so many levels. Why are we humans here, actually, what is our purpose? Oh right, subdue the earth and dominate it, and do we ever…
    About wasps: (puts biologist’s hat on) they have an important role to play in the ecosystem. They eat other insects, many of them of the kind we don’t want around. They are predators and as such more aggressive than honey bees who only eat pollen and nectar. There is a lot to know about wasps and bees but I better stop now. (I’m taking the bio hat off before you throw me out. Sorry…).

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I love the sentence “Maybe they don’t need to be useful. Perhaps it’s enough that they exist?”

    To be honest I haven’t seen many wasps around these past few years. Maybe your protagonist needs to stop some more wasp killers.
    Great story!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. I’ve been with Calum on a number of insects especially, ticks, chiggers, and mosquitoes. However, I’m willing to concede that they must have some role to play in the greater scheme. I just wish they could do so without causing such irritation to the rest of us.


  5. Good work Neil. I sympathise with the anti-wasp feeling, i hate the little buggers and never understand what they’re for. But a friend pointed out what a humancentric view that is, everything isn’t here for us. So i try to me tolerant of them, but I still don’t like them…

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Great description and I’m afraid they must exist for some reason, even if we don’t know what it is. I’ve heard this claim before, but they simply put, they wouldn’t exist if they had no reason to, so we exterminate at our own risk.

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