> I would also suspect that wasps stinging humans is still fairly useful and that its disadvantages are basically invisible to the biological processes. Yeah,

> I would also suspect that wasps stinging humans is still fairly useful and that its disadvantages are basically invisible to the biological processes. Yeah, I think that's really the heart of my question. What are the disadvantages of stinging humans (and nesting near them) vs the advantages. You may be right that the disadvantages aren't enough to bring significant evolutionary pressure to bear. My other wasp musing that I've never had answered, is when you destroy a wasp nest, what do the wasps that are "out on patrol" do? Do they form another nest with other stragglers, join another group, or just buzz around until they run out of steam and then die? I would assume it is choice one or three. Choice one seems to make sense if enough of the core group is left, but can just one or two wasps manage to regroup and start over?