Tom Saunders

An Open Gallery of Native NZ Wasps

Tom — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 09:16:16 +0000

Yes, we have native wasps in New Zealand! Unfortunately we also have a handful of introduced social wasps. The introduced wasps prey on native invertebrates and create a nuisance (especially for people who are allergic to their stings). But our native wasps do not live together in colonies and they do not sting. They are...

My 2nd Published Paper

Tom — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 22:23:53 +0000

My second ever scientific paper has just been published! You can read it here. It’s published open access in the journal PeerJ, which means it is freely accessible by anyone. This paper deals with the experimental part of my masters research. I put out loads of insect traps at a couple of sites in the...

Radio Interview: NZ’s Weird Native Wasps

Tom — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 04:03:01 +0000

“What? Native wasps?” I hear you say. Yes, thousands of them! And they don’t sting! I was interviewed on Radio New Zealand’s ‘Our Changing World Programme’ by Alison Ballance. We chatted about our misunderstood parasitoid wasps, my masters research, and the value of taxonomy. You can check out the interview here. Happy listening!

What Are Parasitoid Wasps?

Tom — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 19:50:56 +0000

Most Wasps Are Misunderstood… ‘Wasps’ are truly a diverse group of insects – with over 100,000 species known out of an estimated total of 350,000, they make up a considerable chunk of biodiversity. It’s true that some wasps wreak havoc against native biodiversity and cause serious allergic reactions when they turn their sights on people....