Paper wasp - Nest

Notes:

Wasps are expert paper makers, capable of turning raw wood into sturdy paper homes. A wasp queen uses her mandibles to scrape bits of wood fiber from fences, logs, or even cardboard. She then breaks the wood fibers down in her mouth, using saliva and water to weaken them. The wasp flies to her chosen nest site with a mouth full of soft paper pulp.

Construction of the wasp nest begins with a suitable support – a window shutter, a tree branch, or a root in the case of subterranean nests. The queen adds her pulp to the support. As the wet cellulose fibers dry, they become a strong paper buttress from which she will suspend her nest.

The nest itself is comprised of hexagonal cells in which the young will develop. The queen protects the brood cells by building a paper envelope, or cover, around them. The nest expands as the colony grows in number, with new generations of workers constructing new cells as needed. (http://insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasp...)

● Foto 1 - Vespa de papel (rainha?) vigiando o ninho. Minha presença incomoda um pouco, mas elas não me agridem / Paper wasp (queen? ) guarding its nest. My presence bothers a little, but they do not harm me (its bite inflicts a potent sting.);

● Foto 2 - Visão geral do ninho. O ninho ainda é pequeno, provavelmente ele atingirá o dobro do tamanho que está / Overview of the nest. The nest is still small, it probably will reach twice the size it is;

● Foto 3 - Uma das vespas conseguiu comida para as larvas / The wasp got food to larvae;

● Foto 4 - As vespas dividem a comida, elas parecem amassar a comida com ajuda da mandíbula, até que fique suficientemente macio para as larvas engolirem. Está é uma observação minha. / Wasps divide the food, they seem kneading the food with the help of the jaw, until it becomes soft enough to swallow. This is a my remark;

● Foto 5 - Alguns alvéolos já estão lacrados / Some alveoli are already sealed;

● Foto 6 - Alimentação das larvas famintas. Cada uma das vespas se encarrega de alimentar as larvas diretamente na boca. Há uma gotícula na boca de uma das vespas, eu realmente não sei se é água. / Feeding the hungry larvae. Each wasp takes care of the larvae feed directly into the mouth. There's a droplet in the mouth of one of the wasps, I do not really know if it's water or saliva (The finished saliva has several times more carbohydrates and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) than traditional insect meals, such as blood or plants - http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/....).

Obs: Adult paper wasps are limited to liquid diets, because a section of their bodies between the head and the abdomen is extremely narrow. Solid chunks of food just wouldn't fit through.

But wasp larvae, which are shaped more like fat worms, are able to eat a wider range of food.

Adult paper wasps, usually queens, exploit this difference by capturing caterpillars and feeding them to larvae in the nest. The larvae digest the caterpillars and produce nutrient-loaded saliva that is fed back to the adults. (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...)

Larvae and eggs of paper wasp: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/116...