Huge Ringed Paper Wasp (Polistes annularis) Nest Overhanging Creek скачать в хорошем качестве

Huge Ringed Paper Wasp (Polistes annularis) Nest Overhanging Creek

HANK WILDING'S JOURNAL: One sultry August evening in 2015, I got up the nerve to take a closer look at a huge Ringed Paper Wasp (Polistes annularis) nest I'd been studying for several weeks from the safety of a creekside trail. The wasps had constructed the nest — about the size of a soccer ball, but irregularly shaped — in a small tree overhanging Little Cotton Indian Creek, just around the bend from its confluence with Big Cotton in Henry County, Georgia. I waded out into the surprisingly brisk current with my camera and tripod for some establishing shots. Having been stung by angry Red Paper Wasps (a more common species) many times, I was supremely careful not to disturb this colony, likely 3,000-5,000 members strong. I crept to within three or four feet of the nest for some closeups of the industrious insects at work, prepared to sink into the knee-deep water if necessary. I was surprised to see that, from a certain angle, the nest appeared heart-shaped. How sweet! At about :47 you can see two larvae wiggling in their cells at the upper right of the frame. Later, notice hundreds of Ringed Paper Wasps hanging like stalactites from the cells, their heads not visible — this is how they feed their offspring. Around 1:36 the wasp in the center of the frame appears to be performing some sort of nest maintenance. Just marvel at that jaw action! Filming this, I was reminded of the giant bee sequence from 1961's "Mysterious Island," in which two hapless humans are sealed up in an outsize honeycomb. (Sorry, just had to throw that in.) A few weeks after shooting this video, heavy rains fell over several days. The sodden nest apparently fell from the little tree into the swollen creek and sank or floated away. I was sad that I was robbed of a cool souvenir once the wasps had abandoned the nest, but sadder still for the wasps. All that work and devotion to their young for naught. Ma Nature can be a real bitch, can't she? Windbaggery over. Now get out of that chair and go wilding!