Do slugs and wasps have any use, besides being a nuisance?

Question

I know bees make honey and spiders eat the flys, flys make maggots which are medicinal.Worms till the soil, ants are home-makers. But i cant think of one single good thing connected to these horrible things? Can you?

Answer 1

They are horrible creatures that play havoc in my garden and I include snails as well. The wasps bite holes in the pears on my pear tree.The snails and slugs decimate my marigold plants. I cannot think of any use for their existence except that they are food for the birds and small mammals.

Answer 2

THANK YOU!!!! SOMEONE ELSE IN THE WORLD WHO FEELS THE SAME!!!!

I'm sphexsophobic myself (fear of wasps) and I always ask myself "what do they contribute to the world other than annoyance, stings, infections and sharp pain?"

as much as I hate them I still understand it wouldn't be fair to eliminate them all, blah blah blah...but still....GRRRR HATE WASPS!!!!! (*sneers into thin air*)

I do very much agree with Johndeha though ^^^......he should get best answer......

Answer 3

THEY Probably think the same of us.

Answer 4

To be honest, I cant find any good reason for them either. :P good luck on your search to find an answer :)

Answer 5

i know what you mean, every night now i am out in the garden looking for slugs and snails, little buggers keep eating my plants

Answer 6

humans are the same. bloody useless. what do we contribute to the planet? i have to agree with you  though. slugs eat my radishes. and wasps lie in wait for me to tread on , on my lawn. they,ve got me  twice so far.  the bloody bzzzzards

Answer 7

slugs are food for many other animals. unsure about wasps.

Answer 8

same as the human race no use for them either

Answer 9

Good Question Grasshopper

Answer 10

Slugs are like little hoovers/vacuum cleaners.  They will clean up all the green slime which often grows on patios and walls.  They also clean up any waste organic matter, rotting flesh or other and break it down.  Very useful indeed!

Song Thrushes love to eat slugs/snails.  If you get up early, go somewhere where you can see them looking in gardens, under stones for them.  Slugs/snails mainly come out on damp nights to avoid the heat of the day and predators.

Slugs are also being researched by scientists because of their amazing mucus which they produce to glide from A to B.  This is a very tough mucus they produce and if you've ever got their slime on your fingers you will know that it is almost impossible to wash off, even with soap and water!!

In the case of the mucus, understanding and replicating its unique properties could have applications in medicine – after all, mucus plays an integral role in human digestion, respiration and reproduction.

Slug mucus has rod-shaped molecules that align in various different ways, thereby controlling  the viscosity of the mucus. That's why slugs can adapt so easily to changing ground conditions.

Wasps help pollinate certain flowers and probably have many other uses if we all opened up our eyes and brains a little more.

Try watching all the little life that you take for granted and learn from them.  It takes a lot of time, respect and patience... something alot of young people don't tend to have.  I should know, as I was young once!

Answer 11

Slugs provide food for Toads, wasps eat rotten fruit,