Biologists - why so few houseflies and wasps in Taiwan?

In summer in UK there are loads of wasps buzzing about causing a nuisance at picnics etc. There are also loads of houseflies.
How come in Taiwan you hardly ever see houseflies in the house or outside? They do exist but there aren’t that many of them. Nothing like India, for example, which has a hot climate like Taiwan.

What about wasps? You’d have thought they would thrive in Taiwan’s hot weather and yet they’re not commonly found in urban areas. I’ve never had a wasp (or something similar) in the house in Taiwan in 12 years. Even in the hills/mountains you’ll see the odd one or two hornet-like waspy things, but not as many as your typical car park rubbish bin in England in the summer.

Comments? Can anyone explain?

There are a lot of fruit flies though… :s

Now idea why, but the same applies to Malaysia. Just lot’s of mosquitos though.

Yes, the UK and Europe have lots of wasps especially in late August. But they also have a different climate, much drier than Taiwan. I’m not a biologist nor a wasp expert, but maybe that’s the reason.

Having said that, if you visit any park or forest in the hills here, you’re likely to find warnings against disturbing what they call “tiger bees.” Just looking up at the trees, you’ll also see loads of their big nests.

And what’s the matter anyway with not having enough flies and wasps in Taiwan? The amount of cockroaches and mosquitoes more than makes up for it.

I think you misunderstood my post, enzo. I am not saying there are not enough wasps and flies! :laughing: I am very GLAD Taiwan isn’t swarming with flies and waspies. Just curious from a biological point of view why there are so few compared to UK which has a colder climate.

The horrendous air pollution has killed them all off.

Maybe their innate animal sense has warned them of an impending doom that has the letters PRC chiseled on the side? :astonished:

Thank god, a few more Fred Smith’s in Taiwan and I’d have to leave. :smiley:

I noticed the same thing, very few houseflies.

That’s quite interesting considering there would be a fair amount of garbage lying around the streets here and in houses.

It might be something to do with the humidity here or lack of really cold weather for them to complete their lifecycle. It may also be connected with no carpets or something mundane like that.
My impression before would be that houseflies like hot weather before but it seems they are different species here and I guess the bluebottle is not established here (the most common one I remember).

I don’t think they have European wasps in Taiwan, that is why you don’t see them (could be wrong though). European wasps are a bit of a nightmare and a plague in Australia so lets hope they aren’t here.

But they do have some kick ass native scary hornets and bees as previously mentioned (I think the tiger bees are endangered because people collect them to make a drink that’s supposed to give you the strength of a tiger if you get my drift). I’ve seen them being collected in Taoyuan county.