Tuesday, 7 July 2009

Paper Wasp

Just one lone Paper Wasp was busily building this nest under the handrail on OlderSon's verandah. The nest is made out of wood fibre and was firmly anchored to the wood by a thin stem called a petiole.
Some of the cells already contained larvae, and there's one white grub visible, working hard to close the door on his cell, no doubt looking for some peace and quiet.

We had to knock the nest down, can't have a colony of wasps around with curious Callum close by, but the queen wasp angrily searched for her babies for a long time before giving up.

I sincerely hope she moves to a different neighbourhood to start her next family.
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13 comments:

  1. Changes in the wind7 July 2009 at 09:53

    Very interesting........

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  2. photowannabe7 July 2009 at 13:17

    Fascinating close-up showing the different life stages.
    Glad you got rid of it though. Don't want sweet Callum having an unwanted encounter.

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  3. Craver Vii7 July 2009 at 14:27

    Nice shot, especially with the grub. Poor little guy can't get any peace and quiet with all the papparazzi napping pictures, can he?

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  4. Unknown7 July 2009 at 15:44

    This is a bad year for wasps.

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  5. Hilary7 July 2009 at 23:12

    I sure hope folks click on the photo to enlarge it. There's some cool details up close. It's a shame it had to be destroyed but I sure can understand why.

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  6. madretz8 July 2009 at 03:05

    While they are beautiful creatures, I'm not a fan. We have so many of them at the hideaway, too. It's amazing the spaces where they manage to make their homes.

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  7. Ginnie Hart8 July 2009 at 12:48

    Ugh. I hate these things, even though they are very industrious in the making. I have to knock them down, too!

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  8. Leena8 July 2009 at 14:26

    I can imagine, how Callum would like to take one wasp ...
    Melli was trying to catch a bee a few days ago :)
    Warm greetings to you!

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  9. rosemary8 July 2009 at 16:15

    We have them everywhere under our eaves....we had hornets on the TV antenna two stories high.

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  10. Wendy8 July 2009 at 21:09

    Cool pic! But hard to get rid of. At least in our part of the world. O.K. - in my backyard. We even had a wasp nest in our heat pump!

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  11. PeterParis9 July 2009 at 05:20

    I appreciate the conflict siutation... You must heve felt very unconfortable, but I understand your choice!

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  12. Neva12 July 2009 at 21:10

    they build around my doors to the deck...very annoying...not a fan of them!!

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  13. Gina E.18 July 2009 at 11:31

    If those wasps are anything like the European wasp that snuck into Australia uninvited, you are well rid of them! I was stung once, and the pain was worse than anything else I've ever experienced.

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