Paper Wasp | National Geographic

these are paper wasps tending to their
nest and these are army ants complete
with some nasty looking jaws or
mandibles those mandibles and the way
the army ants tend to swarm in well
armies is not good news for the paper
wasps nests the adult wasps have no
defenses against this vicious mass so
the ants steal the wasp larvae
unchallenged army ants aren’t the only
scourge of a paper wasp nest another is
water
this Costa Rican forest they live in is
a rainforest and their wood pulp nests
endure frequent water lodgings at least
for this peril the adult paper wasp has
developed an ingenious defense a little
suction on the soaked wood pulp mast and
a little spitting over the edge and drop
by drop the wasps save their brood
as the nest dries and the larvae grow
the wasps add more wood pulp aka
paper to the outer rim
one last peril Costa Rican heat and
there’s only one way to cool off your
nest if your paper was
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