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It depends on the species, but the most used material is scraped fibers from dead wood trunks and branches. “It is very difficult to establish a construction standard for everyone, as in Brazil alone there are around 500 species of wasps. Some of them, for example, incorporate materials such as clay and plant hair into their nests,” says biologist Osmar Malaspina, from the São Paulo State University (Unesp) in Rio Claro (SP). Marimbondo is the popular name given to wasps, a flying insect related to bees and ants – all three are part of the order of heminoptera. These animals, along with termites, are classified as social insects thanks to their ability to live in societies organized into castes – with the presence of a queen and several workers – and with a clear division of labor. Among the wasps, one of the best known species is Polybia paulista, also called paulistinha. She has a black and yellow striped chest and looks like a bee. “This species usually makes its nest in the eaves or on the porch of houses”, says Osmar. Most wasps build closed nests (as is the case of the paulistinha) or open ones (as is the case of the wasp), but some species, such as solitary wasps, make their nests on the ground, as if they were a burrow. Regardless of shape, however, wasps look for sheltered places where they are protected from predators – mainly ants and birds – to make their homes.
Construction raw material is regurgitated by the insect
1. The first stage of building a house is the acquisition of raw materials. To do this, the wasp scrapes the fiber of dead wood with its jaw, such as tree branches and fallen logs. He then chews this fiber and mixes it with water and his own saliva.
2. The softened fiber is regurgitated by the wasp in the place where he intends to build his house. The modeling of the combs and the nest envelope is done with the front legs and the mandibles. Construction usually takes just a few days to complete.
3. Hornets’ houses are similar to bees’. They are divided into combs, which serve as a deposit for a substance made from the larvae of small insects. This rather disgusting honey is produced for internal consumption by wasps. The queen of the group lives in the center of the building.