I would like to respond to your recent article on supposedly ‘mean’ wasps, (‘Mean’ wasps warning for Herefordshire with nests appearing, July 4).

Wasps, like all our native species, have an important role in our ecosystems as well as their presence having many benefits for gardeners, in particular.

While wasps can, of course, give a nasty sting, and should be treated with respect, there is no need to demonise them when they are, quite rationally, defending themselves.

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The common wasp, (Vespula vulgaris) is actually an important pollinator, visiting a wide variety of flowers to feed on nectar. They are also important predators and so form a key part of the food web. They eat other invertebrates such as spiders, woodlice and, here’s the best news, aphids, keeping their populations down and preventing them decimating your garden.

Wasps are also incredible architects, creating beautiful papery nests made from chewed up wood. If you spot a wasp on your wooden shed, have a closer look and she may well be scraping off tiny fragments of wood which she will chew up and use to build their nest.

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While, of course, there may be places where a wasps’ nest may be too dangerous to allow, such as a children’s playground, there is no need to rush to exterminate a nest if it’s somewhere you can simply give a wide berth for a few months.

The world is facing a biodiversity crisis with 41 per cent of the Earth’s remaining five million insect species now ‘threatened with extinction’ and a recent study by the Wildlife Trusts showing that, in the UK, we have lost at least 50 oer cent or more of our insects since 1970.

It is imperative that we learn to live with, and love, our insects to recover nature before it’s too late.

FRANCES WEEKS

Head of Action for Nature, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust