![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ_D78cx0EOSJgculzsGvc0qRJ4q790VsEvqhfVzJTn4cuOW8W86BPlW0Aa1Rdcj_CiRCWur_TUGMDAOi6r_AaKiiNOLUOnvaBAEpcTqCCko1PAnyPOHQgkU8aQtus0ziRVR4cZg918q5B/w390-h400/1.jpeg) |
Here's a pretty paper wasp, the kind that makes those fan shaped nests of hexagonal cells you see under eaves and overhangs. It's scraping wood fibers from a fence post.
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwc4fmjQuptkVh9Ecib70MHbDVvHTOn1Bc0885Gqg-pFUs8-l78K0N-BVN4Y765XRUK6yNnhEQWgAFFDbvQkHfDWginfrk8Jn0z-a6NipEOkYfepBv3GG928Yzvk_ztB-e0Fl_yRixRB4/w328-h400/2.jpeg) |
Click to enlarge and you can see under its chin the little ball of fibers it has accumulated. That gets broken down to a soft pulp in the wasp's mouth by saliva and will be used to build and expand a nest.
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQKR-5vrRB1tJhs6_BpdWP_51VeMZWlhp9mq_mDMvWDvj77ZzalpkVj8V3lhGPqNBcJiRvvJxja-MDa11rKUWFT78pxJZYa0TSiZyErCJjwzoNUrt1GWUToXcB7-UtAIzW71-MQdvjz1G/w266-h400/3.JPG) |
Looks like hard work.
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And here are a few wise words from Iris Shah:
"A king who feared wasps once decreed they were abolished. As it happened, they did him no harm. But he was eventually stung to death by scorpions."