Gathering @ the waterhole: 2014

Monday 15 December 2014

Wasps Master Builders

Potter wasps and mason wasps are two members of the order Hymenoptera of about 198 000 species in the world. Some wasps and bees, and all ants, are social.

Wasps habitat is diverse and varies from forest, bushveld and gardens and is strongly associated with buildings.

Females nest in :

Existing cavities such as keyholes, open ends of piping and bamboo,

Holes in tree trunks, wood and walls

Empty cells in disused mud nests of other wasps.

All these wasps will defend their nests aggressively.

Tricarinodynerus guerinii is a medium sized wasp with a black head and thorax and a red abdomen with brown markings. Pale brown wings and brown legs.

Females suspend an egg from the roof of each nest cell before introducing paralyzed caterpillars.
The cells are separated by mud partitions and the entrance provided wait a characteristic curved mud turret.

Source : a Field Guide to Insects

Friday 28 November 2014

Gathering @ the waterhole: Cuckoo Wasp

Gathering @ the waterhole: Cuckoo Wasp: The Cuckoo Wasp is quite widespread and may be seen on mud walls or termitaria investigating nests of potential hosts, like we found here a...

Cuckoo Wasp

The Cuckoo Wasp is quite widespread and may be seen on mud walls or termitaria investigating nests of potential hosts, like we found here at the Xombana restaurant. It was such an amazing experience to see the Mason Wasp build its chambers and fill it up with caterpillars. We never thought that we will be so fortunate to also find a Cuckoo Wasp inspecting and laying eggs in it's hosts nests. I will have to end with our famous last words nature is just amazing,

Cuckoo wasps are small to medium size with body length of 4-20mm, They are metallic blue or red but usually bright metallic green. They are parasites that lay their eggs in the nests of bees, wasps, and certain other insects, which are called their hosts. There are approximately 3000 species of cuckoo wasps throughout the world

Cuckoo wasps can be divided into two chief types based on their lifestyles: parasitoids and cleptoparasites. Parasitoids feed on the larva of the host and cleptoparasites "steal" the host's food. In both cases the host larva dies. The food-stealing behavior of cleptoparasite species resembles that of the cuckoo bird and gave rise to the cuckoo wasp's name.

Egg laying process

Most species lay eggs in nests of solitary wasps and bees, their larvae feeding on host's provision or larvae.

Cuckoo wasps are only seen occasionally due to their small size and secretive habits. However, in open, sunny habitats they are often abundant on flowers and small shrubs, where they feed on nectar. Cuckoo wasps often lurk near the burrows of their hosts, waiting for an opportunity to sneak in and lay an egg. They have a thick, hard cuticle (outer covering) that is covered with pits. The cuticle provides protection from stings and strong biting mandibles of host insects, which may attack the cuckoo wasp. In addition, the underside of the abdomen is concave and allows the wasp to roll up into a protective ball, another defensive mechanism. Although cuckoo wasps sting, their stinger is very small.

Source : Everyting about webpage & Field Guide to Insects of South Africa

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Building a nest - amazing Architecture in nature

On Sunday, 17 November 2014 we witnessed this amazing process.

A Mason Wasp was building brooding chambers.

We watched this process for more than 5hours. The wasp sometimes disappeared for 50 minutes and we thought it might have been caught.

On the paving of the Kokoriba Stoep at the Xombana Restaurant droplets of mud.

Mason Wasp approaching with a ball of mud.

dropped mud balls

The Mason Wasp paralyses caterpillars and brings them to the chamber. We counted at least six caterpillars.

Bringing another worm

The caterpillars are incarcerated with the Mason Wasps eggs in a mud chamber.

Approximately six worms were pushed into the nest

Sealing starts

Ball of mud to seal the nest

Have you ever asked yourself how it is possible that such a small creature can build a structure like this, know where to collect the material to do it, know how to put the caterpillars inside, lay their eggs and seal the chamber? We have one answer - God, the Intelligent Designer of the universe made this possible.