Britain’s wasps are unusually scarce this summer; scientists point to extreme weather and food stress

# What's happening

This summer (2026), people across Britain — including researchers who normally collect wasps for experiments and pest controllers — are noticing far fewer wasps than expected. The absence shows up in everyday places (fewer wasps at picnics and around houses), in fewer media reports about "wasp plagues," and in researchers struggling to find enough insects for student work.

# How the season unfolded

Spring started warm and dry, which usually helps new queens (foundresses) start nests because nectar and prey are abundant. But that spring was unusual: brief periods of unprecedented heat were punctuated by cold, damp days and chilly nights. Those swings can increase the risk to solitary founding queens during the vulnerable nest-establishment phase and may have led some queens to die or abandon nests.

# Why the wasps are small

Researchers report that the few wasps observed this summer are noticeably small. Adult insect size is fixed during larval development and depends on larval food quantity and quality. Early-season workers are normally small because a solitary queen can only supply so much food. In a typical season, worker numbers and foraging capacity expand, enabling larger workers later in summer. This year, colonies may have failed to reach that stage, producing small adults because larvae received limited resources.

# What biology can and cannot protect wasps

Social wasps have mechanisms that help them cope with heat and dry conditions: colony thermoregulation behaviours (for example wing fanning), nest architecture that insulates brood combs, and cuticular hydrocarbons that change structurally to reduce desiccation. Their broad diets can buffer short-term prey shortages. Still, those defences have limits. If ground temperatures and repeated heat stress exceed physiological thresholds or reduce food availability for larvae, colonies can still collapse or remain stunted.

# Evidence and uncertainties

Current signals are largely observational and anecdotal: researchers' field notes, fewer pest-control calls, and a lack of typical wasp-related news stories. The Big Wasp Survey — the main national monitoring program — had not completed sampling at the time of reporting, so national-scale data were not yet available. If survey data confirm the observations, the changes could affect ecological roles wasps play as predators of pest insects, pollinators, and decomposers.

# What to watch next

Look for national survey results (Big Wasp Survey) and follow-up studies quantifying colony failures, queen survival, worker size distributions, and links to specific weather events. Local monitoring by entomologists and citizen science contributions will be useful to establish whether 2026 is an exceptionally quiet year or part of a developing trend.