Public Writing

Sharing our passion for the world of insects with the public — general-audience writing by lab members, past and present.

Seirian Sumner

Sumner, S. (2026) Where have all the wasps gone this summer? The Conversation (July 2026).
Benny, F.E. & Sumner, S. (2026) Wasps at your picnic? Here’s why. The Buzz — Buglife’s Magazine (due Summer 2026).
Corbett, O. & Sumner, S. (2026) Keep calm and carry on: lessons from wasps on how societies survive power struggles. The Conversation (25 May 2026).
Sumner, S. (2025) The simple trick that stops hungry wasps from ruining your picnic. BBC Online (Aug. 2025).
Sumner, S. (2025) What to do when wasps crash your picnic – a scientist’s guide to dining safely with these insects. The Conversation (July 2025). Republished in The Independent and BBC Online; featured in The Sunday Times. Also republished in French, Spanish and Chinese.
Sumner, S. (2025) Here’s how to create a more nature-literate society. The Conversation (Feb 2025).
Sumner, S. (2024) Where the UK’s wasps have gone and why they need your help. The Conversation (August 2024).
Sumner, S. (2024) Why wasps matter. Globe and Mail, Canada (August 2024).
Sumner, S. (2023) The lonely but essential lives of solitary wasps, and why they matter to gardeners. The Garden, Royal Horticultural Society Magazine (8 pages; June 2023).
Sumner, S. (2023) What the complicated social lives of wasps can teach us about the evolution of animal societies. The Conversation (30 March 2023).
Sumner, S. (2022) Plagues of wasps? A scientist explains why you shouldn’t panic about rumours of rising populations. The Conversation (26 August 2022). Republished in The Metro (29 August 2022).
Sumner, S. (2022) How Wasps Are Less Bothersome—And More Beautiful—Than We Think (excerpt adapted from Endless Forms). LitHub.
Sumner, S. (2022) Taking the sting out of wasps. Wall Street Journal (14 July 2022).
Sumner, S. (2022) Curious Questions: Should you get rid of wasps? Country Life Magazine (23 July 2022).
Sumner, S. (2022) Scientist tries to take sting out of our fear and loathing of wasps and hails importance to ecosystems. Sunday Post (28 June 2022).
Sumner, S. (2022) Don’t let wasps spoil your jubilee picnic – be like an Argentinian, not like a badger. The Guardian (4 June 2022).
Sumner, S. (2022) Five facts about the gruesome beauty of solitary wasps. The Conversation (23 May 2022).
Sumner, S. (2021) Wasps: why I love them, and why you should too. The Conversation.
Sumner, S. (2021) Why I matter. New Internationalist, January, 529: 22-23. newint.org
Sumner, S. (2020) Why wasps become so annoying at the end of summer. The Conversation.
Sumner, S. Don’t swat the wasp! Frontiers for Young Minds 8: 149. kids.frontiersin.org
Sumner, S. (2018–2019) “The Wonderful Wasp.” Countryfile Magazine. countryfile.com
Hart, A. & Sumner, S. (2017) Why we need to sometimes kill insects. The Conversation.
Sumner, S. & Brock, R. (2016) Social Wasps: No ASBO Required. Professional Pest Controller Magazine.
Sumner, S. & Brock, R. (2016) In defence of wasps. The Conversation.
Asher, C.L. & Sumner, S. (2015) The Genetics of Societies. The Scientist.
Sumner, S. (2014) Life Evolves Via a Shared Genetic Toolkit. In: This Idea Must Die (ed. Brockman, J.), pp. 170–174. Harper Perennial, New York.
Sumner, S. (2013) A synthetic world. In: What Should We Be Worried About? (Edge Question Series 2013).
Sumner, S. & Patalano, S. (2012) Is the natural world one big soap? New Scientist 214, 28-29.
Sumner, S. (2012) Help, I need somebody! The importance of helping behaviour in the evolution of biological complexity. In: This Explains Everything (Edge Question Series 2012).
Sumner, S. (2010) How the internet changes our behaviour. In: How is the Internet Changing the Way You Think?
Sumner, S. (2009) How did the social insects become social? In: What’s Next? Dispatches on the Future of Science (ed. Brockman, M.), pp. 199–210. Vintage, New York.
Sumner, S. (2009) Reassessing Relatedness. In: What Have You Changed Your Mind About? (ed. Brockman, J.), p. 416. Harper Perennial.

Seirian is also the author of Endless Forms: The Secret World of Wasps — see the book page.

Femi E Benny

Femi E.B. & Sumner, S. (2026) Wasps at your picnic? Here’s why. The Buzz — Buglife’s Magazine (due Summer 2026).
Femi E.B. (2025) Giant Water Bugs: Close Encounters with Toe Biters. Round Glass Sustain.
Femi E.B. (2024) Spot Me If You Can: Mimicry and Camouflage in Insects. Round Glass Sustain.
Femi E.B. (2024) Nature’s Artists: The World of Potter Wasps. Round Glass Sustain.
Femi E.B. & Amritha Jaiprakash (2024) Moving Beyond “Creepy Crawlies.” Kerala Calling.
Femi E.B. (2024) Quest for the Himalayan Giant: A Journey to the Realm of Apis laboriosa. Round Glass Sustain.
Femi E.B. (2024) Climate change and insects: We don’t know enough. Antenna (Royal Entomological Society).
Femi E.B. (2024) Spider Wasps: The Solitary Hunters of Your Backyard. Round Glass Sustain.
Femi E.B. (2024) Beyond the Sting: Asian Giant Hornets as Food and Medicine in Nagaland. Round Glass Sustain.
Femi, E.B., & Priyadarsanan, D.R. (2023) As India faces an egg shortage, can insects be a potential solution for protein and nutrition? Mongabay.
Femi E.B. (2022) Neither a cow nor a buffalo: the curious case of Mithun aka Gayal aka Bos frontalis semi-domestication in NE India. The Morung Express.
Femi E.B. (2022) Facing Your Flying Fears. Youth for Nature.
Femi E.B. (2021) Understanding the science behind avian influenza. Mongabay.
Femi E.B. (2021) Eating insects could be the future of food. Mongabay.
Femi E.B. (2021) Understanding the Alarm Around Asian Giant Hornets in the US. The Wire Science.

(Full profile: Femi E Benny.)

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