Anyway, happy Friday! Check out the creatures at the ark, and have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, April 8, 2005
Friday Creature
Anyway, happy Friday! Check out the creatures at the ark, and have a wonderful weekend!
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8 comments:
I know it's not one of the blue mud daubers I'm familiar with; but it's not the very common paper wasp I thought it was at first glance. I do think it's closer to the paper wasp variety, and therefore it might indeed sting you. Also, I'm not 100% certain wasps work the same way as honeybees, but chances are that this is a *gal*.
Great shot.
I thought it was called a mud dauber?
You've got a great eye and hand to capture this one. I think yours deserve more attention. Look at www.eyeofscience.de for some great shots of nature.
I agree w/Joe - it's most likely a female. Great shot, Alice!
Thanks for the kind words! Why female?
Most wasps/hornets/bees die over the winter, but fertilized queens burrow or somehow otherwise stay over, and they are the ones buzzing around everywhere this time of year, looking to build nests, lay their eggs, and start the annual colony. Not only that, but males are in quite the minority in most social wasp/bee colonies. In honeybees, the "worker bees" are all technically female, though sterile; and the "drones" are the males; and there is one active queen per hive (a select few females are nurtured to become queens and go make their own hives). You might have 60,000 workers, 150 drones, and one queen; that's 60,001:150 F/M!
Wasps vary a lot, but leaving aside the solitary types, I think the idea is pretty similar. (Solitary wasps are female, too, as the males are often eaten after mating,
I came upon your site when I was cruising the blogs and I love your photography. You have a beautiful eye for color and fowl. thanks for sharing and I will now check out your friday creature issues on a regular basis.
It's a paper wasp - Polistes sp. - which builds its nest from chewed wood instead of mud.You'll see her nest as a papier mache honeycomb under the eaves of your house this summer
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