Clearly my quick post this morning got through to Friends of the Earth at some level (thanks to everyone who tweeted it). Here’s what they have done to the article in response:
- Removed the not-a-wasp photograph (good)
- Added some text about other things that wasps pollinate (good) but left in the text about figs (bad)
- Under the “garden pests” section they have add some text, as follows (bad):
The University of Northampton’s Dr Jeff Ollerton says: “Wasps are part of a whole ecological guild of scavenging animals that includes ants, various birds, etc, which plays a valuable role by removing vast amounts of waste organic material from our towns and cities every year.”
Huh? What I said had nothing at all to do with eating pests. Was that not clear when I talked about “waste organic material” rather than “pests”?
Incidentally, and for the record, I’ve had no contact from anyone at Friends of the Earth asking if it was ok to quote me, or check text, or anything.
So, not a complete success then. Once again, feel free to tweet this at FoE
Prof. Jeff Ollerton - ecological scientist and author 
As this was primarily for a UK audience, its a pity they left in three pics of non-UK species (one mud-dauber which could be Delta sp.) and 2 of Polistes. They might have included a Chrysidid too as they always resonate with the public.
Thanks, I’d not spotted that!
They also took your examples of plants pollinated by wasps (switching umbellifers to examples within that group -fennel and angelica )and didn’t quote you. How annoying.
Always good to see an expert at work! Also good to know what wasps do, I had a general idea but this has increased my knowledge considerably. Keep on keeping these people honest!
One wonders how the Earth feels about such friends??