Who are wasps: description and species, where they live in nature, what they look like, life expectancy and reproduction, photo

Types of wasps

Wasps have individuals that live alone, and there are also those who prefer collective communities. For scientists specializing in biology, these insect representatives are extremely convenient for studying animal structure - from isolated living conditions to a simple colonial way of life. Subsequently, there is a transition to social relationships and the formation of castes.

Researchers cannot reach a definite consensus regarding a stable and unambiguous degree of classification of wasps. Nowadays they are divided into a number of families and groups.

It is currently customary to classify wasp families into those that live alone and those that live in colonies. Thus, the following are classified as isolated:

A group of wasps that prefer social colonies:

OS features

Wasps are representatives of the order Stalk-bellied. The fact is that the chest and abdomen of this type of insect have a very narrow transition, popularly called the “wasp waist”. It is this structural feature of the insect’s body that allows it to fold almost in half and deliver stinging blows from any angle. This allows wasps to emerge victorious even in the most fierce battles, even with representatives of insects larger than wasps in size.

The wasp's body is segmented and has three sections - head, thorax and abdomen. In addition, the wasp's body has a very strong and durable frame made of chitin. The wasp's head is incredibly mobile; antennae are located on it, which are odor catchers for the wasp. Also, with the help of a pair of antennae, the insect is able to evaluate the taste of liquid types of food and carry out measuring procedures when building honeycombs in the nest.

The head of wasps is endowed with strong and extremely powerful mandibles - these are peculiar jaws. They serve the insect for biting off food of plant origin, such as soft fruits, berries, flowers, and also for killing the victim. Hornets that attack particularly large relatives, cockroaches and mantises, very rarely release a sting. Strong mandibles are enough for them to crush the chitinous cover of their prey.

The wasp flies at great speed, although this is not its main advantage. But the speed is not always enough to disappear from the field of view of other insects. Wasps often become victims of dragonflies and black flies.

There are different types of wasps, they belong to different families.

2. Types of wasps: paper wasps, road wasps, true wasps, glossy wasps, German wasps, sand (burrowing) wasps, burrowing wasps (sphecidae), scolias, typhias, flower wasps, hornets.

3. Wasps are widespread in Russia, Europe, North Africa and Australia, Mexico and Argentina, Canada.

4. Wasps are not found only on the Arabian Peninsula, in the harsh Arctic and in the sultry Sahara.

5. Wasps, like bees, have a serrated sting. But the wasp sting has smaller serrations. In addition, there is no knot at the tip of the wasp's sting. Unlike a bee, after a sting, a wasp does not leave its sting in the victim and does not die, but can sting several more times.

Paper wasp

6. Paper wasps are well-known insects with black and yellow stripes. Their round nests can often be seen on the walls of houses and in attics. Moreover, wasps build a nest in an interesting way: to build it, wasps use paper, which they themselves produce from wood fibers, chewing and gluing its fibers with saliva.

7. According to research conducted by American scientists, paper wasps are able to distinguish the faces of their relatives. Interestingly, this ability is developed only in social species of wasps, which have a strict hierarchy in their families. According to scientists, wasps that live alone or in simpler families do not know how to do this.

8. It is impossible to say for sure whether wasps are harmful or beneficial insects. A wasp sting is very painful and can cause anaphylactic shock. Unlike bees, wasps are not honey feeders. In addition, wasps often destroy beneficial bees and bumblebees. At the same time, wasps also destroy harmful insects: pest caterpillars and flies.

9. The body of the wasp is divided into three clearly distinguishable segments - head, thorax and abdomen, and has a strong external chitinous skeleton. The wasp's head is very mobile and is crowned with two antennae that perform many functions: they detect odors and air vibrations, with the help of them the insect can evaluate the taste of liquid food and measure the length of the honeycomb in the nest.

10. The wasp's flight speed is quite high, but, however, is not a record for insects in general. That is why even well-armed striped predators often become victims themselves - for example, large predatory blackflies and dragonflies.

flower wasp

11. Flower wasps are small insects whose body length rarely exceeds 1 cm. As the name suggests, flower wasps eat pollen and nectar from flowers. Flower wasps make nests in the ground or on tree branches; particles of clay and sand, held together with saliva, are usually used as construction materials.

12. Among wasps there are both solitary and collective living species.

13. Wasps belong to the suborder Hymenoptera. Just one look at the structure of the wasp allows you to understand why the suborder received such an unusual name: between the chest and abdomen of this insect there is a narrow “waist”, reminiscent of a long thin stalk in some wasps.

14. Thanks to this feature, wasps can easily fold their body almost in half and sting their prey from almost any angle - this allows them to win fights with other, sometimes even larger, insects.

15.The anatomical features of wasps allow them to fight and defeat even those insects that are larger than them.

German wasp

16. German wasps are interesting because of the visible differences between males and females. Male wasps are usually larger, and females do not have wings. Externally, female downy wasps look like ants, which is why they are sometimes called velvet ants.

17. The wasp has five eyes: two large faceted eyes, located on the sides of the head and providing a wide angle of vision, and three small ocelli on the forehead.

18. Researchers say that the wasp becomes most dangerous on days when there is a lot of food around, primarily sweet fruits. In addition, wasps are much more aggressive in hot weather. In July and August, not only the “viciousness” of wasps increases, but also their numbers. During these days, care should be taken to avoid being stung.

19. Wasp venom has a complex chemical composition and is a powerful allergen. Moreover, for different representatives of families, the ratio of the components of the poison is strictly individual, and therefore the consequences of their bites differ. Thus, it cannot be said that all wasps sting equally.

20. Wasp venom is a dangerous mixture of a large number of different substances: one of them, for example, causes severe irritation of nerve endings, another leads to cell destruction, the third is responsible for the development of an allergic reaction, etc.

Burrowing wasp

21. Burrowing wasps (sphecides) nest in sandy soil; some species build molded nests and attach them to the walls of houses.

22. Burrowing wasps got their name because of their ability to dig tunnels in the ground.

23. The sting of a wasp is a modified ovipositor; it is located at the end of the abdomen and it is through it that the insect secretes poison.

24.Unlike bees, when threatened from outside, wasps use not only their stings, but also their jaws.

25. A wasp sting is very painful and in some cases dangerous. In a person with an allergy, it can be fatal.

Wasp Scolia

26. Scolia - hairy, large or medium-sized wasps from 1 to 10 cm long. Very beautiful, more like butterflies than wasps.

27. The head of the wasp also contains antennae that perform several functions. In addition to the sense of smell and touch, these “antennas” recognize air vibrations and act as taste buds, and when building a nest, the wasp measures the size of the cells with its antennae.

28. The wasp’s mouthparts are designed to grind particles of plant matter, which the insect uses for food, or to build a nest.

29. The wasp has 4 membranous wings, although some species lack wings. The wasp's abdomen is fusiform or barrel-shaped and covered with hairs.

30. On the sides of the wasp’s head there are two large and complex eyes, allowing the insect to see simultaneously in different directions.

Spangled wasp

31. Splendid wasps are very beautiful, have a bright, multi-colored, shiny color. They parasitize other wasps, bees, butterflies and other insects.

32. In social wasps, eggs are laid by the queen, which is fertilized by the male only once. In the spring, the queen wasp chooses a place, builds a nest and lays eggs in special cells. At one time, the queen can lay more than 2000 eggs, from which the larvae of worker wasps hatch. These larvae then transform into pupae, and the pupae into adult insects. Throughout the entire cycle, worker wasps look after the offspring, and the queen is busy laying new eggs.

33. Wasps that lead a solitary lifestyle are called solitary wasps. Most wasps belong to this group. The nests in which their larvae develop are very diverse and are burrows in the ground, cavities in wood, clay buildings in attics, etc.

. 34.Females of some species of solitary wasps work together to build a kind of “communal nest.” They are similar to social (paper wasp) nests, but each female in such a nest lays eggs in her own “apartment”.

35.Single wasps have a sting, but often kill their victims with a bite from their powerful jaws. They take the prey to the nest and, having laid an egg on it, seal the cell.

Wasp Typhia

36. Typhia is a medium-sized black wasp. They often parasitize May and June beetles and are able to burrow into the ground in search of their larvae.

37. The food of wasps is very varied and depends on the type of insect. Herbivorous wasps feed on pollen and nectar, fruit juice, and aphid secretions.

38. Predatory wasps do not hesitate to feast on other insects (spiders, beetles, flies, cockroaches, mantises), feeding on them themselves and feeding their offspring.

39. Wasps catch their prey and then inject it with a poisonous sting. The poison paralyzes the insect, but does not kill it. In this way, the meat of the prey is kept fresh until the wasp begins to eat it.

40. In solitary wasps, reproduction occurs as a result of mating. Single female wasps build nests in which they lay eggs and store small insects and spiders paralyzed by poison as food for future larvae. After this, the wasp seals the nest, and the larva develops independently, eating insects. After the expiration of the period, the wasps get out of the nest and go to look for a new place to live.

Hornet

41. The hornet is the largest of the social wasps, its dimensions reach 55 mm in length.

42. The main difference between a hornet and an ordinary wasp is its large size. If paper wasps are only 2-3 cm long, then in European hornets this figure reaches 3-3.5 cm. In addition, hornets have a wider back of the head (this is clearly visible under a magnifying glass) and characteristic dark red spots on the head there , where paper wasps have black areas. The hornet also differs from the wasp in its more peaceful disposition - it bites people much less often.

43. Large hornet wasps, when attacking a victim, use not only a sting. Their strong jaws allow them to crush the chitinous coverings of cockroaches and even praying mantises.

Vespiary

44. The lifestyles of solitary and social wasps are quite different. So, for example, harvesting paralyzed prey is the only thing that an adult single wasp can “offer” to its larva. At this point, she stops caring for the offspring (only in some species can the female visit the burrows from time to time and bring additional food into them).

45. For social wasps, everything is much more complicated. Their founding queen overwinters in a safe shelter (in a hollow, under a stone or under bark), and in the spring she begins to build a nest and lay the first eggs in it.

sand wasp

46. Road wasps and sand wasps dig holes in the ground instead of building a nest. The food for the hatched larvae is insects and spiders paralyzed by stings.

47. Hornets inject more poison into the wound than wasps, which is partly why their stings are more allergenic and painful.

48. Remember that wasps are attracted to bright colors and sweet smells. This is how they find flowers and fruits. Many people forget that insects sense artificial scents in the same way, and they are attracted to bright synthetic scents even more than natural ones. Therefore, bright or dark clothing, thick makeup and the scent of perfume increase the chance of being stung.

49. Wasp venom is much more dangerous than many people are used to thinking. The fact is that an allergy to this substance is not that uncommon. Moreover, with each bite the reaction usually intensifies. Therefore, if a person stung by a wasp feels general malaise, has difficulty breathing, has a fever, or exhibits any other negative reactions other than the usual itching and burning at the site of the bite, it is necessary to immediately consult a doctor.

50.Immediately after a bite you need to take an anti-allergy pill. People suffering from this disease need to carry such medications with them at all times when the activity of bees and wasps is especially high. Even if there are no such reactions, you should try to suck the poison out of the wound and apply a clean cloth soaked in a soda solution to the affected area.

photo from the Internet

Coloring

The color of these insects is worthy of special attention. The coloring can be very diverse and surprise with a palette of color combinations. Thus, the types of common paper wasps that infest household plots in the summer have black and yellow bright stripes. And it is not possible to confuse the paper wasp with another type of insect.

Other representatives of this species are black and turquoise, and even with a purple tint. It is no wonder that the color of the body of these insects is always and easily recognizable, and especially in the natural world. It is known that the combination of black and bright yellow in nature means danger. Therefore, wasps rarely become victims of attacks by various mammals and even some species of birds.

Interestingly, over time, wasps acquired the largest number of “doubles” in the animal world. Since this coloring is imitated by insects that are not inherently dangerous.

Various bumblebees and bees have a large number of hairs on their bodies, which cannot be said about many other representatives of the wasp family. This is directly related to the fact that bumblebees and bees are excellent pollinators, and the villi present on their bodies increase the process of collecting pollen from flowering plants. Wasps have no such need.

It is noteworthy that some representatives of this insect species lack wings. In German wasps, which are parasites of paper beauties. But the absence of wings is not an indicator, since German wasps are not at all harmless, they have a sting and quite toxic poison.

Wasps have five eyes . Of these, two are larger, having a facet structure and located on the sides of the head. Thanks to these large organs of vision, the wasp has a large and wide viewing angle. The other three eyes are located in front of the head, on the forehead.

Their eyes are located on the sides and are quite complex in their structure, as they are represented by a large number of parts, separate from each other, and in the process form a picture in the form of a mosaic. They have good focusing, not the same as a person’s, of course, but this is enough to record movements in their field of vision.

Additional three eyes on the forehead, more similar in structure to the human eye. They even come with a pupil.

The size of insects can vary greatly among different representatives. For example, the giant scolius, which lives in Asia, has a body that can reach a length of 6 centimeters. Next comes the Asian hornet, which ranges from 5 to 5.5 centimeters. But still, most of them have less outstanding sizes. It has been noticed that the size of an insect almost always corresponds to the danger they pose.

Head

Science distinguishes the division of the body structure of the wasp into 3 parts - head, chest, belly. They are all clearly separated from each other.

The head of a wasp includes the eyes, antennae and mouthparts. This upper part of the insect is free, transversely expanded. The mouth can be gnawing or adapted for receiving liquids. The upper part is highly developed. Some individuals use it to grind food. But, most varieties use it as a tool for building homes. With its help, wasps gnaw holes in trees, kill prey, and collect building materials.

There are herbivores that eat only pollen, nectar, and fruits. Their jaw is not very developed. Another species feeds on spiders, beetles, and mantises. A sting is inserted into the victim. But large wasps use not only it when attacking a victim. They have strong jaws that can crush the bodies of cockroaches and mantises.

Ways to feed wasps

The feeding pattern of wasps is quite unique due to their specific life cycle. While developing, these insects undergo a fairly large number of transformations. So the wasp larva has a thick body, and it does not look like a mature adult. And also the nutrition of the larvae is completely different.

The diet of future wasps includes only animal foods, but for adult representatives, the diet mostly consists of flower nectar, juice of berries and fruits.

Wasps try to get as much animal protein as possible for their offspring; for this they choose the best, in their opinion, pieces. To do this, they attack other insects with the help of mandibles, bite into pieces of spoiled meat or fish, then chew all this thoroughly, mix it with the secreted secretion of the salivary glands, which contain the necessary enzymes, and then feed the resulting mass to the larvae.

Solitary wasps differ slightly in terms of nutrition from their relatives. The females of such wasps catch arthropods, killing them with their poison, then hide them in a specially prepared hole and lay eggs using the ovipositor. This type of “canned” food will serve as an excellent type of food for the hatched larvae for quite a long time.

An interesting fact is that the sacrificed arthropod will live until the moment of pupation. Therefore, the victim lives as long as the larva eats from the inside, without touching those organelles that lead to death.

A variety of members of the arthropod family can become victims of single wasps, but most wasps have their own spectrum, aimed exclusively at spiders and various bugs.

Unlike those described above, hornets are omnivores, especially preferring meat products. Among fauna, slugs, worms, millipedes, lizards, and in some cases even rodents become victims of hornets. But entomologists who study the life of hornets are confident that the hornets do not attack the mice themselves, but only feed on the remains of the food of the cat family.

Wasps play an important role for nature, even when viewed from an agricultural perspective. They destroy a huge number of harmful insects. In addition, they are orderlies who destroy populations of multiplied insects, acting as a factor of natural selection, which is no less important.

Reproduction and lifespan

In social individuals, the eggs are laid by the female. Fertilization occurs once in the autumn. A wasp can lay several hundred eggs per day, from which larvae will subsequently hatch and turn into pupae. The last stage of the reproduction cycle is the transition to the adult stage.

After mating, the female begins building a home. She brings insects paralyzed by poison to the nest, and then lays eggs on their abdomen. After this, the female seals the nest for the winter, during which the offspring eats the supplies prepared by the mother. Once the larvae develop into adult wasps and are able to leave the nest on their own, they fly away.

Interesting! Wasps easily find their homes even after flying long distances. But if you move the nest in the absence of insects, they will not be able to find it.

The life expectancy of males and females is different. The first live on average for a couple of weeks. The male dies after mating. Queen wasps live for several months, and in warm countries - for years. They are responsible for choosing a nest site and raising offspring. With the onset of frost, mature wasps die, and young individuals overwinter in the wood.

Laying eggs

In the summer, the working group of the aspen colony begins to attach additional honeycombs to the nests so that the queen can lay eggs there. From this moment exactly three weeks will pass, and new viable individuals will be born. Throughout the summer, the queen lays eggs several times. On average, she produces more than a thousand such embryos throughout her life.

Solitary wasps themselves look for a suitable place for nesting and breeding. The insect prepares a cell and places an egg in it. Moreover, each future wasp requires a separate chamber. The larva emerges from the egg after two days.

Larval development

In appearance, they resemble thick worms or white flower slugs. The female continues to care for her young. Wasps feed their offspring with small balls of chewed insects. The larvae also produce sticky mucus, which is eaten by the female. Thus, a mutual exchange of food occurs.

Larvae require a lot of protein to develop. Two weeks later, the future wasp seals the entrance to the chamber with a cocoon. The pupal stage lasts 6-7 days, after which the formation of the insect ends. Adult individuals, having left the cell, occupy the appropriate place in the hierarchy and carry out their work.

The role of the queen in the wasp colony

The main feature that allows you to distinguish the queen from other female wasps is its larger size. If most individuals of the common wasp do not reach 2 cm, then the queen of the swarm grows up to 20-25 mm. Apart from size, it is difficult to identify any specific features.

In some families, not only the queen, but also worker wasps lay eggs to replenish the colony. Females reproduce but do not claim the role of queen. At the same time, work in the nest must be carried out uninterruptedly, so if the queen dies, ordinary wasps can easily replace her.

This family of insects is called Polista. New individuals appear in it throughout the warm season.

Who is the enemy of wasps

High defense and a way to repel many enemies does not completely protect these insects. The most obvious representatives are parasites.

These are representatives of all kinds of mites, beetles, as well as species of fellow wasps that parasitize nests. They eat larvae, protecting themselves from paper bees with their stings, or with skillful camouflage.

In addition, wasps are not averse to feasting on bears, hedgehogs and other wild animals that are not afraid of wasp bites.

And also various types of birds are not lazy to catch these insects for food. Such birds are bee-eaters, which have mastered the art of hunting stinging insects with great success. The eating pattern is quite simple and at the same time unique. They grab the insect crosswise, hit it off a hard surface, and subsequently crush it and swallow it.

Another unique predator among birds is the large bird - the honey buzzard. He catches insects in flight with his paws, then tears off their sting, and only then feeds his younger generation with wasps.

How a wasp uses its sting

You should always remember that the wasp is a very aggressive insect that can sting at the slightest disturbance.

The structure of a wasp.

We will take a closer look at how this process occurs:

Initially, the insect is affected by some irritating smell or she sees that someone is very close to the nest and a threat may come from him. In other words, it defines the victim.
The wasp is on the warpath. She flies towards the enemy and at this moment the sting is still hidden in her abdomen.
When a yellow-black striped warrior flies up to an object, special muscles in his body contract and literally push the stinger out.
Nature provides that before the poison enters the victim’s body, it is necessary for the sting to penetrate there to a certain depth. If the insect fails to do this, the poison will not be released from the special gland.
If the wasp stings the victim at the prescribed distance, then a portion of poison is released from the poisonous gland. It, through a channel-duct located inside the sting, directly enters the body of the “enemy”.
The insect leaves the victim, easily removing its weapon.
The wasp does not immediately hide its sting back into its abdomen. She is ready to repeat her attack if she deems it necessary. The insect can sting 4-5 times in a row. In this case, each time a new portion of poison will be released.

When the insect is no longer going to sting, the sting returns to its place in the abdomen. During each penetration of a sharp organ, 02-03 mg of poison enters the enemy’s body. Wasp stings are more painful than bee stings.

Population extinctions

But, despite the fact that wasps have enough enemies in the wild, the main enemy of wasp populations is that suitable conditions for their habitat are decreasing every year. Immense deforestation, plowing of fields, all this leads to a reduction in species in a certain area.

Some countries even take specialized measures that are aimed at protecting some representatives of these amazing insects.

Wasps

Apocrita
Hymenoptera, which does not have a strictly scientific definition . In principle, these are all stinging stalked bellies that are not related to bees and ants [1].

Environmental classification [ edit | edit code]

Currently, there are many different types of wasps, but they all, one way or another, belong to one of two main categories: solitary and social wasps. Thus, representatives of solitary wasps usually lead a solitary lifestyle and often do not build nests. In addition, all adult solitary wasps are capable of reproducing. Unlike solitary wasps, social wasps live in families numbering up to several thousand individuals; They build fairly strong nests, but only the queen and males are able to reproduce, while the rest of the colony consists of sterile female worker wasps.

Social wasps [edit | edit code]

The nests of social wasps, such as hornets, are initially built by the queen and are no larger than a walnut until sterile female workers take over the construction. The process of nest construction begins with the queen making a single layer or canopy, moving from the inside out until she reaches the edges of the cavity. Below the canopy, she builds a leg to which she can attach several cells: it is in them that the first eggs will be laid. The uterus then continues its work, moving outward towards the edges of the cavity, adding another level. This process is repeated, each time adding a new tier, until a sufficient number of female workers hatch from the first eggs and reach maturity, which continue building the nest, allowing the queen to concentrate only on further reproduction. For this reason, the size of the nest is a good indicator of how many worker wasps there are in the colony. Quite often, the colony size includes several thousand female workers with only one queen. Social wasps have the property of eusociality [2].

How do they reproduce?

Towards the end of the warm period, workers add large honeycombs to the nests. All this is necessary for the queen to lay eggs. Then, within 20 days, females and males are born, which are called drones. By the end of August, the young offspring need to be well fed in order to get stronger. All this time they are protected by the roof of the nest. With the arrival of autumn, drones begin to mate. At one time, the male fertilizes the uterus with so much biomaterial that she can lay eggs throughout her life.

The predecessors of drones are not able to survive frosts, so they die. After the wasps reproduce, the young female is able to fall asleep, lay eggs again when spring arrives, and reproduce. Moreover, during all the warm months, only worker wasps are born. Fertile offspring appear only with the arrival of August. The timing of the mating season may also explain why wasps attack people for no reason and are especially active and aggressive towards other insects.

Solitary wasps [edit | edit code]

The nest building methods of solitary wasps are more varied than those of social wasps. For example, burrowing wasps (or burrowing wasps) and flower wasps build cells in protected areas, usually on the side of a wall. Pottery wasps (or pill wasps) similarly build vase-like nests out of mud, often with multiple cells, attached to tree branches or to a wall. Most other predatory wasps burrow into soil or plant stems, and only a few do not build nests at all, preferring natural cavities such as small holes in wood or the pores of three-ply cardboard. It is also noteworthy that solitary wasps, as opposed to social wasps, lay eggs in each individual cell, after which it is sealed so that no interaction occurs between the larvae and adults at all. However, in some species, eggs with male larvae are selectively placed in a smaller tray, which suggests that males are generally smaller than females.

Wasps attack people for no reason

Wasps are considered one of the most dangerous insects, stinging their prey. Like all things stinging, the wasp is considered a predator whose bite brings a lot of pain. After a bite, a person feels severe pain, after which other unpleasant symptoms may appear.

The first reason why wasps attack is an attempt at defense. Like any predator, the wasp is evil by nature, so any confrontation with it is perceived as an attack. Usually such fights only end in bites.

The distinguishing signs of a wasp sting are:

Instant redness and swelling of the bite site;
The pain is accompanied by severe itching;
The appearance of an allergic reaction;
The whole body begins to itch, a rash appears;
In the place where the sting occurs, acute pain appears;
Anaphylactic shock.

Additionally, the following may appear:

severe dizziness;
vomiting, nausea;
acceleration or deceleration of heart rate;
increase in temperature.

Note! The most dangerous symptom is considered to be anaphylactic shock, which most often affects allergy sufferers. Moreover, if qualified medical care is not provided within a short time, a person may die from a wasp sting.

Interesting facts [edit | edit code ]

Wasps, unlike bees, when defending against external factors that threaten their existence, use not only their stings, but also the jaw apparatus, biting the object of alarm. Their sting, unlike bees, does not have serrations, so when they sting, they do not damage their sting. Like bees, nearby individuals react to the smell of poison and may join in the attack.

A wasp and lemons in a painting by the Italian artist Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670)

The structure of the visual organs of insects is diverse. Among them there are many who are very different in eye structure from mammals.

One of these unusual insects is the wasp. Anyone who has the opportunity to observe them often may notice that the activity of wasps at night and during the day is different.

The reason probably lies in the structural features of the wasp's eyes.

Let's try to understand how wasps see the world around them: insect vision in the dark and during daylight hours.

The structure of a wasp's eyes

Many will be surprised to learn that the wasp has not two eyes, but five.

Convex compound eyes on the sides of the wasp's head are clearly visible. Their structure is quite complex and consists of many - up to 6000 microscopic compartments, called meshes, they are clearly visible at high magnification. Thanks to their complex structure, each of them captures a small fragment of the image. All together they allow you to see an overall single picture, but for the wasp it still consists of many small cells. Therefore, the answer to the question: how does a wasp see the world around it can be answered - for it, the image consists of the smallest pieces connected into a single whole. This mosaic vision makes it easier to track moving objects, which is important in flight.
The three remaining eyes are located on the front of the head on the forehead between the compound eyes. They are arranged in the form of a triangle and are very similar to human eyes, but only in appearance. Even the presence of a pupil does not make their vision sharp. The most important function is to expand the field of vision. But they do not provide a clear picture of the image; they only allow one to capture darkness or light.

A wasp cannot focus its vision as well as a human.

Any entomologist, when asked: how wasps see, will answer - they simultaneously distinguish all objects within a radius of 280 degrees.

Can a wasp see at night?

This insect is diurnal. It is during the day that she can find food for herself or material for building a nest.

Some species are also active at night. Quite often you can see a flying hornet at night - this is a type of wasp.

But still, most of these insects prefer to wait out the dark time of day in a secluded place.

It is difficult to say whether wasps can see in the dark. But the low activity of insects at night may be one of the signs that their vision in the dark is much worse than during the day.

Most often, wasps that do not make it to their nest hide in flower baskets. Tenacious legs and strong jaws allow them to survive the dark. The life of a wasp is quite short. Scientists have proven that she does not waste time sleeping.

If the wasps do not fly at night, then they are quite active in their own home and continue to carry out everyday activities: caring for the larvae and building additional cells.

The presence of a light source at night slightly changes the insect's behavior. Next to him she is more active, crawls and even flies, but without leaving the circle of light.

This behavior allows us to answer the question: do wasps see at night, rather negatively. More or less active behavior is observed only where there is additional lighting.

Habitat

Most species prefer to settle not far from a person or directly in his home. Living next to people is beneficial for them; they always find food here and therefore strive to build their nest in the garden, on the porch or under the roof. From there it is easier for them to raid jam or other sweets left in an open place by the owners of the house.

The nest itself is built from pieces of young tree bark, carefully chewed and sealed with saliva.

For paper wasps, the choice of habitat is related to the presence of trees from the fibers of which they build their nests. Some species use small pebbles or dirt particles to establish a colony. They settle where this material is available. For example, the golden-winged potter wasp, which lives in Brazil, makes nests in places where there is clay, which is used in construction.

There is a species that burrows into the ground or bites through the stems of plants to find shelter there.

There are also representatives who make themselves a refuge in plants or in the ground. Some people choose to live in any cracks, and even work gloves or cardboard boxes thrown by a person can become housing for them.