The first part of the series on egg laying and prey can be viewed HERE.
“The Potter Wasp (Delta sp.) has just completed her 12th nest cell, and I believe that’s the last pot for the season, as instead of building more pots, she has begun to place mud over the entire structure, as if to obscure the shape of each individual pot. The wet patches here show new mud all over the nest structure (above).
“Here she is bringing in a blob of wet mud the size of her own thorax, and probably weighing as much as herself (above).
“Interestingly, she has built some pots over other pots, so I imagine the emerging wasp from the pots below would have to break through extra layers of mud (and disturb the larvae/pupae in the cells above) to emerge. Here she is building pot #8 over other pots, despite there being ample room around the other pots… (above, below).”
Lena Chow
Singapore
11th March 2016