From: giraffe@longneck.inc (giraffe~⇔)
Newsgroups: alt.binaries.pictures.artpics
Subject: Re: Critters - KitchenBert_AndSoTheyBuild06-iej.jpg
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2000 03:05:56 GMT
>*
>*From a educational book for children
>*And So They Build
>*Written & illustrated by Bert Kitchen
>*
>*ISBN 1-56402-502-0
KitchenBert_AndSoTheyBuild06-iej
Paper Wasp
A paper wasp is about to start her colony and so she builds......
The paper wasp is found in North America, Europe and North Africa.
Before she lays her eggs, the female wasp uses her powerful jaws to scrape wood from any post, fence, or beam that she can find. She adds her saliva to the wood to create a unique paper mixture.
Now she begins to build her nest, which hangs from a plant stem, stone, or board. It takes the form of a comb made up of hexagonal cells, in each of which she lays one egg, effectively gluing it to the base to keep it from falling out. The comb has no cover, but it is very well insulated. Inside their snug cells the eggs will develop into larvae and finally into adult wasps. |