Posted at » 12:38:00 PM
Sunday, December 13, 2009
I'm going to write a little interesting observation that I did during my last few days in Cape Town.
A tale of motherly love and horror.
Wasp the one word that describes it all.
Wasp is an insect that is a relative of both the Ant and Bee family, strange isn't? But after my observation, it aint surprising at all~
The first time I've heard of the Wasp was through a programme by National Geographics, and also the nest they build on my laundry line, but never knew I would be lucky enough to observe this creature at such close proximity... haha~ it is really exciting~~ >_<
DAY 1
One morning, I woke up to find this on my balcony door knob(outside). At first glance, it is obvious enough that it is a wasp's nest! The catch is... there's an egg inside......... and from common sense, the mother shouldn't be too far away... (oh yeah...) 
As expected, the mum turned up soon enough~ I was quite terrified at the sight of it actually (haha, that's why this pic was taken on the inside of the door~~~). I mean this is the first time I saw a wasp of this size. The wasp that build nest on the laundry line back in PE is about 3 times smaller than the one outside my bedroom. And they(swarm) build nests that resembles bee nests, but this one is a solitary insect called Mud Daubers that build separate mud hives for individual eggs.
IT IS A NASTY LOOKING INSECT- Black, huge, unpredictable and carries a sting. 
As shown in the books and on Tv, the wasp catches parasitic insects as food for it's young...but that's nothing special, the wasp have a special preference for their child's food- They like it to be rare. Very RARE.
Fate is sealed.
I don't even want to imagine what happens in there...
DAY 2
I woke up the next day and for some reasons, feel that what I saw the day before will not be the end of the whole ordeal~ and TA LA~~~ and this really made my day... I get to observe how such sturdy mud hive was built!!! Just like the huge one that I've wrote about~~~
Once the hive had served it's purposes, the wasp will never reuse the same hive. What makes it more interesting is that lizards or other creatures reuses the sturdy mud hives!
Wasps- generally avoid other wasps and their nests. 
Using the first nest as the 2nd nest's platform and focusing on the sides first.
For every single paving of the mud walls, the wasp will collect a 'mud ball' from the damp morning soil and hovers like a helicopter to the hive. In fact, there is a kind of helicopter named "Wasp", I can totally see why!
I can't really see how it roll the 'mud ball' clearly, but it will literally pick up the ball with it's legs and hugging it to the nest. Tirelessly, patiently and very systematically` repeating the process again and again.... to build a single cavity probably takes the wasp more than 50 trips like this... to and fro..... . . .. . .. . .. .. .. .........
The thing about the walls is that once it hardens, it gets really hard. The whole colony of cavities back in PE lasted for almost 1year and a half already... it can withstand the eroding forces of nature very well. I tried touching the wet walls that the wasp just built, it is quite soft and looks really wet... it is definitely not just water and mud- if it is, it will never be as strong.
My camera can't really zoom and take clear pictures, thus I'll have to bring my hand extremely close to it
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------about the length of this dash line. Man, thats why it is such an exhilarating experience! :D The balcony is really quite narrow and the support rails are pretty low too!! Sometimes, when I make sudden movements, the wasp will jerk it's head up to look at me(very intelligent behavior for insects), there was once I had to fight it off~~~ by waving my hands infront of me frantically! hahahaha~~ it was quite a funny moment coz I think it realise that I meant no harm and afraid of it, so it just ignored me and continued the most important work of it's life.
Angel of Death.
You won't want to be in the shoes of a Caterpillar...
Pit of Horror.
You realise you're next, to be a baby wasp's ticket to adulthood.
Paralyzed...
Helpless...
Bro giving a shot at it.
HAHA~ at first I told him that there's a wasp nest outside the door, he was like "watever", so I told him to wait. When the mum returned, he was shocked! hahaha~~ he even dodged back(EVEN THOUGH HE WAS BEHIND THE GLASS) when the mum approaches the nest!! hahaha~~~~~~ this is a very imitating little devil, easily strikes fear into hearts of anyone who encounters it.
Almost done!
To finish, the wasp will make a little crusty crown surround the entrance of the cavity. I don't really know the purpose of it, but it's probably acts as support for the sealing of the cavity.
Part Ant, part Bee.
Bees are aerial, winged insects that lived on nectar and build hives.
What a strange yet intriguing combination~~
"neck crown"
As soon as the cavity is completed, the mother wastes no time admiring her amazing cavity that took her 1 hr 30 mins to complete, she immediately starts laying her egg. At this point in time, it seems like she was in a trance, either she ignored my advancing or she simply didn't even notice me... the laying of the egg took about 1 minute or so.
1 yellowish egg attached to the roof.
You can see the mud is still wet~ creepy aint?
I've tried to wait for the wasp to bring the prey to the 2nd nest for 1 hr or so, yet for some reasons, after laying the egg, it disappeared~ thus I didn't manage to see it.
A third cavity with egg laid and a prey inside.
I tried my luck, and waited for a while since I know they normal stuff as much prey as they could- depending on the size of the prey. And I was lucky!
As amazing as it sounds, I observe the beautiful sight of the wasp literally hugging the entire caterpillar with it's legs, like as if she was hugging a booster, hovering towards the cavity! Before I could take a shot, she immediately start to stuff the caterpillar inside~~~~ I mean she was carrying a caterpilla of the same size as she is! What a sight!!
Before I left for PE, I remember see 4 cavities on my door~~ haha~ honestly... 1 is cool, 2 is fun, 3 is alittle much, 4 is starting to worry me. Haha~~~ it is outside my bedroom...
I wonder... how many there are by the time I go back~~ What I've read is, from egg to adult normally take between weeks to a year... hopefully! I'll be able to see it.... it should be really amazing~~~~~~~~
ALRIGHT! Thats all for the wasp!
我/
Peter
A.D 1986 -
Adores
Life itself
Always glad to be alive and well. ^_^
DETESTS
Sickness & Death itself
It would be... meaningless. -_-'''
S pirit sings inside
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