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How we evolved our social behaviour? Is it true that it is written in our genes? How can insects help us to monitor change in biodiversity?
Join us if you want to know how insects are a perfect model for answering these questions and to have the chance of winning amazing Pint of Science goodies!
Join us if you want to know how insects are a perfect model for answering these questions and to have the chance of winning amazing Pint of Science goodies!
Reasons to love wasps
Dr Seirian Sumner
(Reader in Behavioural Ecology)
I love wasps – yes, I’m talking about the pesky stripy insects that bother you when sipp ing your pint alfresco on a summer’s day. Whilst you sip your indoor pint, I’ll give you the science behind why you too should love wasps. First, there’s a lot more to wasps than your stripy friend: wasps beat beetles in the league table of species numbers, they are nature’s pest controllers: a world without wasps would mean we’d need to use a lot more pesticides to control pest populations; and finally, wasps are actually remarkably yummy!
The state of UK insects: just one thing we can learn from biological recording.
Charlie Outhwaite
(Postdoctoral Researcher)
Biological recording has been a popular pastime in the UK for centuries and the data that this recording provides can be used to aid in scientific research. Over 80 recording schemes now exist in the UK, with volunteers collecting, collating and sharing the data. I have been using these records to look at how insects and other groups of species have been faring in the UK over the last 45 years. I will be able to show you some of the amazing (albeit challenging) uses of this form of data, what exactly a fungus gnat is, and how it is not all bad news for insects in the UK!
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