"Product" is NOT the Answer to Every "Problem"

While I prefer to continue winning people over with compelling, fascinating stories of insect life and diversity, I would be remiss if I did not periodically issue posts aimed directly at changing human behavior in ways that will benefit them personally and other organisms as well. Thank you for indulging me in this exercise today.

Through my volunteer efforts and associations with AllExperts.com, Facebook groups, and even this blog, I am frequently asked questions that begin with "How do I get rid of...?" The automatic assumption is that an insect or spider in the house, workplace, yard, or garden must have an inherently bad disposition, or negative effect on people, pets, or property. This is the mindset that needs changing.

Let me give these individuals some credit for asking at least. The people who never ask at all, who literally spray first and ask questions later, are the ones we should really worry about. First of all, they will never know what kind of creature they are dealing with, and whether the product they are using will even have the desired outcome. Secondly, they inevitably do not follow the application instructions and risk poisoning themselves, another member of the family, a pet, and/or unintended targets in the form of beneficial invertebrates; they could even blow their house to splinters and bricks. They don't call them bug bombs for nothing. Never mind that failure to adhere to application instructions is a violation of federal and/or state law.

The real crime, however, is that we are incessantly conditioned that "product" is the answer to every problem (even when there is NO problem), and we are paying for it in so many ways, not the least of which are the side effects of chemical dependency in the agricultural and gardening sense.

Here is what no one is going to tell you. The nursery and landscaping industries have sold us on the idea that we can plant whatever trees, shrubs, and flowers we like, wherever we live, with no negative consequences. This is proven to be not only false, but an enormous ecological catastrophe when you understand the effects of exotic botanicals run amok (invasive species), and the chemical dependency required to prop them up in inappropriate soils, climatic zones, and exposure to local animal life. Further, imported plants invariably bring with them exotic insect and other invertebrate pests that themselves wreak havoc on native plants and ecosystems. So begins the "pesticide treadmill" first articulated by entomologist Dr. Robert van den Bosch in the 1970s.

Without fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, and other treatments, most ornamental plants cannot survive outside their native lands. Native plants do not need this kind of intensive care, are vastly better at supporting beneficial insects, birds, and other wildlife we actually like to see, and their use in landscaping helps mend the holes in fragmented habitat that comes with suburban sprawl. Even in dense, urban areas, native vegetation can draw a shocking diversity of insect life normally relegated to what we would consider "wilderness."

We also greatly underestimate the ability of native plants to withstand nearly complete defoliation and bounce back just fine the next year. This is especially true of trees. A defoliated tree or shrub is not by definition "dead." The resiliency of flora in the face of natural agents of destruction is amazing. Meanwhile, the chemicals we dump on plants to "help" them? Not so good.

I cannot take credit for articulating all of this. Professor Doug Tallamy, in his landmark book Bringing Nature Home, outlines this dilemma eloquently. He also has the scientific studies and statistics to back up his claims. Besides the book, he also speaks to this idea wherever and whenever he is asked. Please check out this Youtube video for an example.

Making responsible choices in the marketplace and adjusting the attitudes within one's own mind are the keys to turning the planet's health around.

The same applies indoors. We panic and reach for the can of insecticide before we ask whether this one individual "bug" represents an actual pest problem or is merely an incidental, accidental visitor. We fail to repair the worn weatherstripping around doors, mend the holes in the windowscreen, inspect incoming objects from outdoors, and otherwise take simple preventative measures to exclude insects and arachnids in the first place.

If there is ever one post on this blog that I would ask you to share, it is this one. Please help spread the word that people can save money, time, and anxiety by simply being more curious, tolerant, willing to learn, and having faith in the way nature works without intervention. I will end with the remark that I have seen minds change, so I know it is possible. Stay tuned for those stories.

Bee vs. Wasp Memes Perpetuate Ignorance

Social media is both a blessing and a curse to entomologists. It can inform and illuminate, but also circulate misinformation and irrationality at light speed. Perhaps nothing better illustrates this dilemma than the proliferation of bee versus wasp memes.

My friend Devon Henderson posted the above meme on Facebook today to solicit reactions from her colleagues in entomology. Note that I have heavily edited the captions to make the meme "family-friendly." The overwhelming consensus was that such simplistic and inciting graphics are more devastating to public education than they even are "amusing" to people who know better. As one respondent replied,

" The fact people keep posting them in naturalist forums (without your critical comment) annoys me, as if everyone will find it hilarious and haven't seen them a thousand times before. People seem very bad at judging audiences. Also, bad language doesn't bother me personally, but it is bad manners to post it on general forums."

Memes are at best a shortcut to express an opinion. Usually, they are insulting to the subject or hurtful to better-informed members of the intended audience. One respondent to the top meme responded:

" I reali[z]e this is the entomological equivalent of racism: stereotypes, false assumptions on these different species mostly coming out of ignorance and fear. 'Ha ha, wasps are assholes! Ha ha!'"

Indeed, one overriding theme in the comment thread of the Facebook post was that people are uneducated enough already, without adding to their false assumptions with such nonsensical memes. Devon comments:

" It bothers me that people actually think that wasps are vindictive and seek people out. They can't rationalize and reason like a human. They act solely on instinct. But people still choose to ignore this fact and continue to accuse wasps of being the 'bad guys.' It's extremely ignorant to assume that a wasp is conscious of its actions and stings people for the sake of unprovoked 'revenge.'"

That's a female bumble bee, but....

As far as I am concerned, memes like this are the equivalent of war propaganda that dehumanizes the "enemy," and spam that pollutes one's e-mail and social media accounts. Perhaps it is fitting that I am posting this during the U.S. Presidential campaign season, when vitriol is spewing from the mouths of most all of the candidates and their ill-informed supporters. There is little difference between wasps and Republicans if you subscribe to the meme agenda.

I suppose pest control companies and insecticide manufacturers are in no hurry to discourage anti-wasp memes, but thankfully there are those of us with a good "following" of proactive students of entomology and ecology who are spreading the facts. I have the good folks at Ask an Entomologist for initially posting on this very subject, back in 2014 no less. Even beekeepers like Dave Green recognize wasps have their positive attributes:

"The public is finally beginning to realize how important bees are, as our primary pollinators; the next step is to become aware of how vital the wasps are as our primary pest controls. I judge the health of a garden by the number of paper wasps that are working though the plants hunting (pest) prey."

Maybe we even need to start flooding the internet with our own counterattack of memes, as Joe Ballenger has done. He deftly incorporates wasp biology into his memes making female wasps oddly empathetic to the plight of our struggling American middle class.

I thank each of you in advance for calling out the idiocy of memes that paint wasps in a villainous light; and who consistently share their own experiences, knowledge, and imagery that demonstrates the positive aspects and fascinating behaviors of wasps. If all else fails, though, I am certain that Devon would gladly permit you to post her own artistic meme in response to the bad ones.