At the time of publication, Hackaday is of the understanding that there is no pro-wasp lobby active in the United States or abroad. Why? Well, the wasp is an insect that is considered incapable of any viable economic contribution to society, and thus has few to no adherents who would campaign in its favor. In fact, many actively seek to defeat the wasp, and [Tegwyn☠Twmffat] is one of them.
[Tegwyn]’s project is one that seeks to destroy wasps and Asian Hornets in habitats where they are an invasive pest. To achieve this goal without harming other species, the aim is to train a neural network to detect the creatures, before then using a laser to vaporize them.
Initial plans involved a gimballed sentry-gun style setup. However, safety concerns about firing lasers in the open, combined with the difficulty of imaging flying insects, conspired to put this idea to rest. The current system involves instead guiding insects down a small tube at the entrance to a hive. Here, they can be easily imaged at close range and great detail, as well as vaporized by a laser safely contained within the tube, if they are detected as wasps or hornets.
It’s an exciting project that could serve as a good model of how to deal with invasive insect species in the wild. We’ve seen insects grace our pages before, too. Video after the break.
I suppose humans would fit that description as well… I could add a quote from Agent Smith about humans being the virus infesting Earth… but I don’t like wasps either.
Outside building a nest in or in very close proximity to the house, I actually catch and release wasps that inadvertently get inside, as I don’t harbor any particular dislike of them. Mice, on the other hand, can’t be eradicated from the earth soon enough, and preferably with as little mercy as possible. Disgusting creatures that destroy anywhere they live. Now a mouse laser… sign me up!
“Now a mouse laser… sign me up!”
These exist in different flavors: Feline, canine and reptilian, among others. Some are better company than a laser.
Ha! My current feline is defective. It’s never caught a single thing. Hadn’t considered a reptile, but I think I’d still prefer the deadly precision of a laser.
Stop feeding it, and it’ll learn very fast.
“You ain’t nothin’ but a hound … cat
Cryin’ all the time
Well, you ain’t never caught a … mouse
And you ain’t no friend of mine.”
my persian cat finally manages to kill mice, but he doesn’t know he can eat them.
we keep coming home to a garden strewn with dead bodies
Those bodies are a warning to his enemies.
A laser capable of zapping a wasp is no biggie, but I’m pretty sure I would not want a laser capable of zapping a mouse loose in my home…
Genetics wise, we are apparently 8% virus already.
An ominous statement considering the pandemic in today’s world.
“incapable of any viable economic contribution to society” – that describes only a small percentage of humans. Otherwise humans ARE the society.
It really only describes a small percentage of wasps as well.
You’ve never heard of a consumer economy?
When is this comercially available? Just shut up and take my money.
It worked ok for many weeks until the honey bee colony grew to s size such that the entrance became too congested.
What?
No video of the wasps getting zapped?
I want my money back!
“Well, the wasp is an insect that is considered incapable of any viable economic contribution to society,“
Wasps, like bees, are pollinators (https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/animals/wasps.shtml for example). No pollinators, crops don’t fruit/seed. Big problem…
Sure there are invasive species that are a pain and this is certainly a cool way to deal with pests, but to say there’s no viable economic contribution to society is a little shortsighted.
No pollinators – potatoes, corn, wheat and vegetables are fine. Most fruits are self-pollinating really.
All that hype about bees is BS.
Some families are self-pollinating too, but do that for a few generations and the result isn’t pretty. No hype about bees.
Most fruits are not self-pollinating. Stick to what you know. If you have wasps maybe the lack of care around your home is the bigger problem.
Figs have evolved to require specific wasp species for pollination.
“All that hype about bees is BS.”
So truckloads of pollinating bees travel around the country to service farms for no reason?
Sure thing, buddy.
Corn ,potatoes and wheat have little vitamin C so I guess scurvy is not a thing to you.
Not a good source of lysine, either.
Do we now have bee pollination deniers? There must be humans self-pollinating to create such myopia.
Without wasps we wouldn’t have figs. So you need to attach a camera with some software that will identify the allowable species of wasps for destruction any others will be ejected from the trap with a puff of air… Simple enough, right? Weekend project… for the lost weekend.
+1
It is really amazing how ignorant people are. The same guy who can program a laser to kill can’t see the forest for the trees. The Call of Duty generation has grown up. Rather than help the homeless, or pick up litter, let’s rage on everything. Like wasps.
even mosquitos have an economical use…at least in their larvae stage they are filtering the water and the male ones are pretty motivated pollinators. hornets are cool (because they eat wasps :) ), and wasps are an annoying but effective cleanup troup.
Don’t try this wasp vaporizer in Germany:
German Federal Nature Conservation Act – 50,000 Euro Fine
Well, as they say in Germany: “where’s no plaintiff, there’s no judge”.
Yes, since a lot of wasps are endangered and since the wasp breed that “bugs” you is only one of many and hard to indentify for the layman, all wasps are protected. Most wasp specimen are polinators, low on agression and serve vital predator roles in certain eco systems.
But it is allways a good move to try to kill an invasive species. Most things in life are context sensitice, so “Go Project”!
True story: we had a wasp starting a nest in our (German) toolshed. I was like, squash it. My wife (German) read me the law. I laughed for a good long while, and then we ended up catching it (her?) and the nest in a big jar and taking it out to the woods.
Everyone came away happier and, even in the absence of any laws, that’s what I’d do again next time.
If by “entrance to a hive” he means a bee hive, then *aham* removing these wasps are ok. Bees are already endangered enough by humans, so they need any help they can get.
If he means the wasp hive, well, then just deal with the whole hive. No need to get them one by one.
Bees live in hive, wasps in a nest.
Just spray the nest with wasp spray or use a garden hose and sprayer.
Neat ass project dude.
One of the few benefits is that hornets/wasps help control the fly population. I grew up in a rural area where all neighbors had horses. Knocking down the wasp nests would result in an explosion of flies not long after. If you don’t have issues with other small flying insects, by all means.
You’ve GOT TO BE KIDDING!
Several fruits are pollenated exclusively by wasps. You really, honestly believe that wasps don’t have a purpose in nature? Are you OUT OF YOUR ***** MIND!
Wasps are part of an eco system. They kill and eat other insects (whose population would explode if you took away wasps as their natural enemy IS the wasp). They pollenate plants, some of them EXCLUSIVELY. They are food for specific other animals (e.g. some dragon flies, several birds, hornets etc).
The best I can do right now is CRY.
+1
Every living serves a purpose, but fortunately, there is a lot of redundancy, and adaptation. Not to mention, there are millions of the nasty buggers out there. It’s not going have any impact at all, in the grand scheme, we call an ecosystem. Nothing wrong with keeping the dangerous, hostile species away from our living spaces, plenty of wild for them to thrive in. Wasps and hornets are particularly nasty and dangerous. They don’t just sting you once, and done with it. They keep stinging until you brush them off or squash them. While they are stinging you, they also put out a scent, that calls all his brothers out, to join the party. Even if you don’t have an allergy, it’s more serious than getting poked a few times. Get stung enough, and anybody can have a fatal reaction. Those with an allergy, don’t usually find out, until they get stung, and rush to the hospital. They don’t always build their nests in plain view, nor do they give warning. I was cleaning up some landscape planters in front of my house last summer, got stung 4 times, two in the back of my hand, two on my thigh. Painful, so I soaked them with vinegar, helped some in a few minutes, but noticed my had swelling. Took two Benadryl (dog’s medication), which fortunately worked. Little worried about going to work the next day. And yeah, I sprayed the crap out of the nest, and removed it. They will return, if the nest isn’t damaged, or full of dead babies. I didn’t panic, and knew how to treat the stings. Unfortunately, most people don’t, which can lead to other problems as well. Being considerate of the ecosystem is fine, but you need to look at the options. Wasps and hornets are dangers to have in your yard, and around people. There is plenty of wild ground for them to live. It’s better to remove a serious threat in your living space.
+1
They do have their place, but not when they are introduced to an area (or country) they do not belong. New Zealand has a huge problem with wasps. Their numbers are increasing alarmingly, and they are turning to bees (honey bees, not sure about bumble bees) as fair game instead of their usual food sources and hitting the bee numbers really badly. It is becoming (has become?) a very serious problem.
This project could serve as a model for “balancing up” the problem of invasive species – ie: the wasps – running amuck somewhere they shouldn’t.
I suggest you get in contact with someone in the insect community in NZ.
It looks like you missed a rather important part of the article “…seeks to destroy wasps and Asian Hornets in habitats where they are an invasive pest.”
An invasive pest is indeed a part of AN ecosystem. Just not the one they are currently residing in. The current ecosystem was perfectly fine before that species got introduced there, and will continue to be fine without it.
Of course, eventually the new ecosystem will find a new balance, one that includes the invasive species. However, finding that balance may cause (local) extinction of quite a few of the original species. Those original species also played a role in the ecosystem, and the invasive species often doesn’t fill the same role.
If you already know where the hive is it;s easy to eliminate.
1 Watt? That not vaporization, that is slowly warming it up. I kind of doubt 1 watt is enough to do anything. There were some designs for a system like this that could find and zap mosquito out of the air using a pulsed yag laser.
You need galvos for something like this, you might be able to get away with the cheap chinese laser light show ones but you will probably need good closed loop galvos.
My 1/2 watt laser etches wood.
Even if it couldn’t “vaporize” a wasp, I imagine it would injure them or compromise a wing.
You sound awfully certain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7CplBqzpyU
I lit my workshop on fire by zapping a wasp with a 2 watt blue laser and catching it on fire way up where I couldn’t reach it (hence the laser) but where I also couldn’t reach the spider webs that subsequently flared up as it burned. That was an exciting couple of minutes. A watt is plenty to kill a wasp if it’s focussed.
In one test 300mW of 532nm was enough to light a cigarette, unfocused. But it took about a minute and somebody had to “pull” (suck air through it). It was quite scary seeing this guy with the bright laser spot only inches away from his eyes in otherwise complete darkness. luckily he did not hurt his eyes.
Simple trick using a shop-vac and some soapy water.
https://lifehacker.com/remove-a-wasp-infestation-without-harsh-chemicals-using-1695590930
I did something like that once.
…once…
It’s not the wattage of the laser, it’s the light field intensity per square mm. if your laser is low in wattage, just focus to a smaller point.
Hey, if the lazer kills the neighbour’s cat too, it’s all good. Free the lazer!
The neighbour might disagree, but I suspect the percieved danger is blinding the neighbour’s kid, not killing their cat.
But… that was a really nice cat.
My cats eat wasps. you’re welcome.
What about incorporating the buzz of their flying into the recognition algorithms.
Well, IF the wasp is being identified in a tunnel (entrance) to a beehive, it might not be moving its wings.
It’s actually not the wings that make the buzz, bees and wasps are essentially playing that note on their breathing apparatus.
I didn’t know that, thanks!
Yes, man ist the most invasive species ever. 7.6 billion individuals, and rising exponentially. It even tries to leave it’s home planet. Scary.
Just like bees swarm from the hive when it gets over populated. But who’s going to be the queen? Elon Musk?
Wasps also eat aphids, a good thing.
There is no animal that kills more mosquitos than a wasp. Really stupid to kill wasps.
There is a community for both European Hornets and Wasps here in Germany (and then Europe as well I guess).
The fines for killing both are pretty sensitive.
https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/tierschutz-wespe
If you want something protected, find a place to do it outside my room. No law that doesn’t have exemptions for removing insects by _any_ means necessary from the close proximity of a dwelling will ever be actually respected, full stop. People will just try to avoid getting caught doing it. Which is why anyone legislating this sort of thing is demonstrably a moron unfit for purpose.
There is a lobby for wasps. It’s called the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Preservation.
https://xerces.org/
Example:
https://xerces.org/paper-wasps-just-like-us-july-2014/
Hackaday’s “understanding at the time of publication” shows a colossal ignorance and contempt for science and the world around us, outside of geeky gadgets. I hope you get schooled.