Visiting foreign bugs blamed for intoxicating wasps in Coleraine

Scientists at the University of Ulster, Coleraine, have identified a mystery bug that left hundreds of drunken wasps in their wake. Wasps were seen acting suspiciously in a garden in Coleraine and environmental experts identified a species of aphid from the forests of central Europe which hadn't been seen on this island for 25 years. The large brown aphids had congregated in huge colonies on trees, producing large amounts of sugary honeydew which rained down on to the grass. The sweet scent attracted the wasps which became intoxicated on the rapidly fermenting sugars.