Wasp's NestBuy

Wasp's Nest Buy

A paper wasp, of the species Polistes gallicus, constructing her nest on the fan-shaped leaf of a Spanish palmito. The nest is made of chewed and pulped wood fibres. It is attached to the palmito by a short stalk.

Whereas many social wasps build huge nests, containing more than a thousand cells, paper wasps confine themselves to structures such as the one in this photograph, containing only thirty or forty neat little hexagonal-shaped homes. The grubs, when they hatch, will be fed on chewed caterpillars. Most of them will eventually metamorphose into workers, but a few will be males - did you know that male wasps can't sting? - and some will be new queens. Only the queens will survive the winter months, and when they emerge they will lay new eggs and begin the cycle again.