Indifferent to desperate hand wafts and wailing, the sight of irate adults karate chopping at thin air has become a reassuringly timeless image. Indeed, after the fly, the wasp is surely our most disliked insect.

We can forgive the bee for stinging as it has the good grace to expire shortly afterwards. But being a one-hit-wonder is not for the wasp. They can sting and sting and sting. But this year they seem to be far more in evidence than in previous years too.

Newspapers have carried frenzied articles warning of wasp plagues and of family pets cheating death after suffering relentless wasp attacks. But is there any truth behind the salacious headlines? Not really, no.

Stuart Roberts, chairman of the Bees Wasps and Ants Recording Society (BWARS), said: “The public should rest assured that there is no plague of wasps this year, but certainly there are quite a few of them around.

“In fact, 2013 is looking like an average to slightly above average year for the UK’s social wasps. There is a perception that there is a larger number around but that is simply because the last three or four years have been cold and wet and as a consequence, absolutely awful for wasps with far fewer present than during an average year.

“Earlier this summer, I was actually getting calls from people asking why there were so few wasps on the wing. Like a lot of other insect life the cold winter coupled with the delayed spring meant that they appeared around three weeks later than usual.

“Late summer and early autumn is the peak season for wasps as their colonies build in numbers, but the first frosts will see wasp numbers reduced once again.”

Wasps are members of the hymenoptera family, a vast and rambling group including bees and ants. There are many wasp incarnations from the gall wasps, digger wasps, the slender and deadly ichneumons and the ingenious potter wasps.

The suspects that cause us such consternation, though, are the social wasps with their distinctive black and yellow livery and insatiable love of sugar — the UK boasts eight species of social wasp, the most widespread are the Common and the German wasps. These insects are virtually indistinguishable to anyone other than a wasp expert. Other insects like butterflies and moths have suffered alarming declines in recent years, but UK wasps are bucking the trend. In the last 30 years, our native wasps have been joined by two new colonists — the Median wasp and the Saxon wasp from the Continent.

Hornets, the striking and oversized version of the social wasp have also experienced an increase in numbers in southern England. So much for wasp welfare though, what about ours?

Wasp experts say that there are several simple steps to avoid being stung. First, don’t panic. If a wasp does land on you wait for it to fly off or brush it with a piece of paper — not your hand. Try not to squish them as the dying wasp will release alarm pheromones that will attract others.

Wasps are attracted to food smells so keep your bins tidy and food waste covered and remember to close windows and doors during food preparation. It may be a hard job to convince people to change their views on wasps but they play an integral ecological role as pollinators and as recyclers of nutrients through their scavenging habits.