Northern Ireland suffers collapse in wasp population - Ulster Wildlife Trust explains absence from summer 2024

National experts have reported a UK-wide decline in the wasp population this year.

The Ulster Wildlife Trust says the same pattern has hit Northern Ireland - but that other insects are impacted too.

Rosemary Mulholland, Head of Nature Recovery with Ulster Wildlife, told the News Letter: "The number of many groups of insects appears to be well down this year, with noticeable declines in wasps, bees, butterflies, moths and dragonflies. This is likely to be down to the cold, wet spring. Many flying insects need warmth and sunshine to enable them to take to the wing to find food and a mate, conditions which have been severely lacking this summer."

"While one bad year is concerning, the bigger issue lies in the long-term trends. Data shows that insect populations are experiencing dramatic declines due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change. This decline in insects has a cascading effect, impacting the pollination of numerous plants and food crops, as well as the animals and birds that rely on insects for food."

"Nature urgently needs our help to recover. Planting pollinator-friendly plants, eliminating pesticide use, and allowing wild patches to grow are simple yet effective actions."

See the 'Let Nature In' pack from ulsterwildlife.org for more information.

Peterborough-based insect conservation charity Buglife says the loss of wasps has hit the entire UK.

"Many wasp nests are created in the ground and will also have been severely impacted by the further flooding across the country in spring and early summer," the charity told the BBC.

Thomas Ings, an associate professor in zoology at the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, agrees that there has been a decline in insect numbers all around the globe."It's probably better to say you can have a bumper year [for wasps] following a bad year, so it could be next year is a better year for wasps, depending on the weather conditions,” he added.