Wasp Nest

Most of us have a healthy respect for wasps, probably because we have all been stung by these creatures at some point in our lives.  Last year I wrote an article about mud dauber wasps.  These are a type of wasp that make nests of mud and lay their eggs inside.

Mud Daubers  

In general, mud daubers are not aggressive and their sting is not as painful as that of the wasps which make paper-like nests.  As a result, when I find a paper wasp nest in an area where we are frequently working, I generally remove it.  Here's a small one I ran across last month.  

The paper-like material these nests are constructed of contains finely chewed wood fragments and salivary secretions of the wasps.  The wasps were just getting started on this nest and, being the inquisitive person that I am, I tore it open.  Inside, I found these tiny wasp eggs.

Given time, the wasps would have caught and stung stung spiders to paralyze them.   Then they would have sealed a spider in each of the cells of this paper nest, just like the mud daubers did inside their mud nests.

It is well into the fall season now and I've not seen any wasps of any type in several weeks. That's because male wasps die off at this time of year, while the pregnant females look for a protected place to spend the winter.   They will emerge next spring and the cycle will start anew.