I love vultures, mosquitoes and, yes, even wasps. This is why you should too | Jo Wimpenny

No species is a 'villain' - and even humans' least favourite creatures are part of a web that makes all life possibleA wasp has just flown into your kitchen. Do you: a) scream and run away; b) roll up a magazine and try to bash it; or c) open a window and usher it outside? Now imagine it's a bee - do you respond in the same way?Our emotional responses towards the other animals on this planet are diverse, complicated and often irrational, and our contrasting perceptions of wasps and bees is a fantastic example. Bees are positively associated with honey, flowers and pollination, while wasps are negatively associated with stings, pain and annoyance - all this despite the fact that bees obviously can sting, while wasps are important pollinators, too. It's the same for other animal pairs: sharks are mindless killers, while dolphins are paragons of benevolence; vultures are ugly and sinister, while eagles are majestic. I'm here to say that we've got them all wrong.Jo Wimpenny is the author of Beauty of the Beasts: Rethinking Nature's Least Loved Animals Continue reading...