This gorgeous girl has been building nests in my craft room. She is a Large Mason wasp or Potter wasp. These chunky insects are native, solitary and non aggressive (just like me). I hear this girl humming to herself all day while she builds her nest, happy in her work. It would be lovely to be able to make a deal with these builders and get them to build our mud house for us.
These wasps catch caterpillars in the garden to seal into their nests and feed their babies. I find this part of their life particularly gruesome as the grubs are alive, but paralyzed when the babies start to eat them (so glad insects don’t grow huge enough to eat us any more). I wondered why all the Cabbage White moth caterpillars had suddenly disappeared, maybe this girl was to blame.
If you see these B52s of the insect world, please leave them be, they may be ridding you of pests you didn’t know you had.
Insect life is amazing, isn’t it. I was just going to post up a review of a book that I’ve recently read on the insect apocalypse. At the end of each chapter there is a page on a specific insect and it’s bizarre lifestyle. They are fascinating.
I will look forward to reading your review. I find the lives of our local insects so interesting! I take photos of any I find and identify and research them. It pays to know the neighbors.