Wasps and snakes delightful beasts says Oxford writer’s book

Zoologist Dr Jo Wimpenny is the author of Beauty of the Beasts: Rethinking Nature’s Least Loved Animals, which explores the value and importance of some of the animal kingdom’s most maligned creatures.

The book aims to challenge perceptions of animals that have long been labelled as pests or predators, such as wasps, cockroaches, and snakes, and argues instead for their vital roles in ecosystems and their potential benefits to humanity.

Dr Wimpenny said: “These aren’t monsters – they’re ecological heroes whose intelligence and emotional complexity rival species we adore.”

Drawing on scientific research, the book highlights the surprising abilities and ecological contributions of these species.

Dr Wimpenny explains how wasps can recognise faces and provide natural pest control, while snakes’ venom may hold clues to treating cancers, mosquitoes play a part in pollination, and crocodiles perform mating rituals that could be described as ‘dancing’.

She argues that losing these animals would severely disrupt ecosystems and calls for a change in how we view and treat them.

The book seeks to raise awareness of the emotional and cognitive complexity of these often-feared species.

It was published by Bloomsbury on February 26.

Dr Wimpenny holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford, where she studied tool use in crows.