Thursday, November 14, 2013

Housing Hidden in Plain Sight

Today on a walk I noticed a number of honeycomb shaped nests like this one:

From Googling around it looks like they were probably Paper Wasp nests.

Two interesting factoids about Paper Wasps: (1) they are considered beneficial to gardens. Apparently, they feed on various insects, which actually make them a form of natural pest control (and pretty bad-ass).

(2) they have very well developed facial recognition capabilities. This may be useful for navigating their social hierarchy.

Next time I'm shooing away a wasp, I'll try to remember that they are more than just a summertime hassle.

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