Posts Tagged ‘wasp lay eggs’

Wasp Brood Hut

November 5th, 2009, posted in Creatures Great & Small

One lazy Sunday afternoon, we watched a wasp build a mud hut, she would fly to a nearby mud puddle, pick up some sand and then dip it into the water, carrying this ball of mud to it’s newly found corner of our outside windowsill. This carried on for hours and eventually there was only a tiny round opening left.

mud house of a wasp

mud house of a wasp

placing the worm into the mud capsule

placing the worm into the mud capsule

last worm, visible through opening

last worm, visible through opening

Then, one by one we watched her bring in a spider and six bright green worms, push them into her mud hut and then after a brief rest, she laid her eggs into her mud nest.

This wasp is Delta emarginatum and can be found throughout South Africa.
Delta emarginatum is a large wasp with a body length of 24-35mm, it is long waisted, dark brown to black with dark red markings on head, thorax and waist.

laying the egg

laying the egg

felmale wasp inserting her abdomen into the mud nest

felmale wasp inserting her abdomen into the mud nest

sealing the house

sealing the house

 
 
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