Saturday 13 June 2009

Wasp vespiary

In long grass beside the tennis courts on campus

Constructed from what appears to be fibre, only part of this nest is active. I stumbled - not literally - upon this treasure whilst searching for the jennie wrens that also live beside the tennis courts. According to Wiki, a wasp is a predatory flying stinging insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember that wasps here were introduced in the mid 19th century to control the population of some bugs, but it seemed that the solution was worse than the problem. Of course, I have learnt to do some "traps" to keep them away from our food when going to the countryside (put a plastic bottle with water, and nearby there, a piece of meat).

Leif Hagen said...

What a flurry of activity! Bzzzz Bzzzzz Did you get stung taking this one - bravo soul!

Joan Elizabeth said...

You do realise they STING! And unlike bees sting and sting and sting again (which I found out one Christmas Day when I accidentally disturbed a nest).

So I call this beautiful photo very brave.

That is the chicken said...

wow...these are amazing shots. The first one especially is fabulous. I am not keen on wasps nests...I once walked into a nest of bare-faced hornets...the stings were painful for days!

Jilly said...

How fabulous. Beautifully photographed. I had a smaller version of one of these in a climber last year but wasn't nearly as successful as you in the shot. Isn't nature amazing!

Julie, you didn't miss the B and W yesterday! - I added it later after my buddy in America emailed me and wondered what it would be like in B and W.

AB said...

Nice find - if you do not get stung.

So, are your antipodean wasps the same as our European variety?

brattcat said...

Fabulous shot, Julie. When we humans begin to get swelled heads about our architectural feats, we need to remember the mathematical beauty of a wasp nest.

Lois said...

Very nice closeups Julie, but I would not be as brave as you are! I am allergic to them and unfortunately they love to build nests around my house.

Anonymous said...

And they're responsible for pollinating certain fruits. Wonder if the sting is more intense than a bee's?

Anonymous said...

I must also commend your act of bravery in securing this shot.

Julie said...

AH: *grin* ...

Friends: I apologise, but I did not even think about the danger. I even moved some of the grass so that it did not stuff up my DoF. I was quite overwhelmed by the "find" and even moreso when I enlarged the shots to see the most perfect of geometrical shapes together with the tender building materials.

freefalling said...

Have a look at these wasps getting their just desserts.
http://tassiebirds.blogspot.com/2009/06/gullible.html

Lowell said...

I have never seen such a wasp's nest! Intriguing. I guess we have those mud wasps who build little mud huts on our ceilings and beams!

Del said...

These are amazing Julie. And very brave you are too!