In Defence of Wasps
Posted4 months agoActive4 months ago
thewalrus.caSciencestory
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EntomologyEcologyInsects
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Entomology
Ecology
Insects
An article defends wasps, highlighting their importance, with a commenter sharing a personal anecdote about a wasp sting.
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Sep 5, 2025 at 9:08 PM EDT
4 months ago
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One sting was particularly memorable. I had what I thought was a bee buzzing around the room where my computer was and I tried for some minutes to shoo it out the window but it disappeared, either it went to ground or snuck out without me noticing.
About two weeks later whilst working at my computer I felt several quite painful 'stings' on on my left ankle and noticed a wasp biting through my sock. What's more my first attempt to remove it was unsuccessful, it just bit me again.
An examination of my ankle showed several lacerations of about 2mm in length in near proximity to one another and they were bleeding.
Seems to me these weren't deliberate stings as such, rather the wasp was starving and I was the nearest food available. (I should add that that window and the door to the room were normally kept shut so the wasp would have had difficulty escaping.)
Would be interested to know if others have been bitten in a similar way.