Horntail wasp wins 'Insect of the Year' for saving forests
The turn of the year is a time when various kinds of polls are announced. While choosing the person or athlete of the year is not surprising anymore, selecting an insect of the year might catch many off guard. So, which insect received this honorable title this year? The decision is in.
Since 1999, in German-speaking countries, a special poll has been held to choose the insect of the year. Since 2009, it has been a joint decision by Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. According to Senkenberg, this year's choice is the horntail wasp, which is highly valued by foresters.
The horntail wasp is a rather inconspicuous insect. Adult specimens measure only about 1 to 1.2 inches long, proving that even the small can accomplish much. The insect of the year 2025 helps foresters combat the pest known as the wood wasp. This insect, which roughly resembles a hornet, lays eggs in both live trees, leading to their death, and freshly cut ones. It is mainly for this latter reason that the wood wasp is considered the most significant pest of processed wood.
This is where the horntail wasp comes to the rescue. The female of this species can precisely locate wood wasp larvae under the bark. Once she finds them, she pierces the bark and lays her eggs in the larvae. The developing horntail wasp parasitizes the wood wasp larva, killing it. Although this sounds rather grim, foresters emphasize that it helps maintain ecological balance.
Surprisingly, the horntail wasp detects trees attacked by wood wasps through smell. It doesn't detect the scent of the wasp larva itself but rather the fungi brought by it that decompose wood, such as the brown felted layer fungus, which wood wasp larvae use to digest wood, said Thomas Schmitt from the Senckenberg German Entomological Institute in Müncheberg, as quoted by the portal wissenschaft.de.
The horntail helps in the fight against wood wasps
Due to their ability to kill wood wasps, which are harmful to trees, South America, New Zealand, and Australia use horntails to combat the highly invasive pine wood wasp.
In this way, the "Insect of the Year 2025" supports forestry, reduces the need for human intervention and chemical use, and thus can promote biodiversity in the long term, emphasizes Katrin Vohland from the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, as quoted by wissenschaft.de.
