Oi, CA;
Brown, RL;
Sumner, S;
(2024)
Bee-Ing positive about wasp-negative media reporting: the opinions of scientists and their influence on the media.
Insectes Sociaux
10.1007/s00040-024-00952-9.
(In press).
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Abstract
Insects are the most diverse group on earth, providing a vast array of essential functions for people and nature. Yet, our appreciation of their contributions is biased towards a few economically important taxa, especially pollinating insects like honeybees. Other taxa are less well appreciated despite the important roles they play, and these taxa are rarely (if ever) the focus of conservation initiatives. Here, we explore the role that scientists play through their interactions with the media in shaping our attitudes towards one of the least appreciated insects—the aculeate (stinging) wasps. Vespine wasps are an excellent taxonomic group for such a study as they are important predators in native ecosystems (e.g., the Northern Hemisphere—in Europe and North America) but ecologically devastating as invasive species in many regions of the Southern Hemisphere (e.g., New Zealand, Australia, South America). Despite this, global media coverage of wasps invariably focuses on and emotively exaggerates the negative defensive stinging behaviour of wasps, and almost entirely overlooks their beneficial positive roles (as pest controllers and pollinators). Wasp and bee scientists from around the world were surveyed about their interactions with the media and how they considered these interactions to influence public perceptions and insect conservation. Our surveys capture the negative-wasp and positive-bee biases experienced by scientists through their interactions with the media. We consider the implications of such biases on wasp populations, their conservation and management, and make recommendations for a more balanced portrayal of this important and diverse group of insects.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Bee-Ing positive about wasp-negative media reporting: the opinions of scientists and their influence on the media |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00040-024-00952-9 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00040-024-00952-9 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Wasp positive, Bee, Media, Scientists, Conservation |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10189596 |
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