Although many people find wasps unpleasant, they are vital for the balance of our ecosystems. Wasps provide benefits by controlling insect pests. As predators, they catch aphids and insect larvae to feed their larvae, but the adults mainly feed on nectar and fruit. Almost every insect pest on Earth falls prey to a wasp species for food or as a host for its parasitic larvae. Wasps are also food for other animals, including other wasps.
They are also unintentional pollinators, visiting our most common fruit and berry plants such as apples, pears, plums, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries in search of nectar.
We can divide wasps into two main types. Some social species live in communities and build paper-like nests and solitary ones where females build their nests and lay eggs.
Key Functions
● Pest controllers
● Pollinators
● Food for other animals
Common Species
Wasps are found worldwide, with an estimated 5,000 wasp species. Of these, 51 species have been found in the Nordic countries, 50 in Sweden, of which 47 are native to Sweden.
Some examples to discover in nature:
● European Hornet (Vespa crabro)
Artfakta.se – Hornet Vespa crabro 
● Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
https://artfakta.se/artbestamning/taxon/Vespula%20vulgaris-232876
● Saxon Wasp (Dolichovespula saxonica)
Bee Wasp & Ants Recording Society – Saxon Wasp
● Red Wasp (Vespula rufa)
Artfakta.se – Red-banded wasp
● Three-Banded Mason Wasp (Ancistrocerus trifasciatus)
Artfakta.se – Three-banded Mason Wasp
● German Wasp (Vespula germanica)
Artfakta.se – German Wasp
● Willow Mason Wasp (Symmorphus bifasciatus)
iNaturalist – Symmorphus bifasciatus, the willow mason-wasp, is a species of potter wasp
● Median Wasp (Dolichovespula media)
iNaturalist – Median Wasp – social wasp of the family Vespidae found throughout Europe and Asia
● Stocky Mason Wasp (Ancistrocerus Oviventris)
Ispotnature – Stocky Mason Wasp
● Wall Mason Wasp (Ancistrocerus parietinus)
https://artfakta.se/artbestamning/taxon/Ancistrocerus%20parietinus-232890
Sources
Naturhistoriske Riksmuseet – Wasps are predators and catch insect larvae which they feed to their own larvae
Artfakta.se – Wasps – Characteristics – Ecology – Spread
May 2022, TÄNKOM | Revised February 2024 RETHINK
