Images Dated 5th February 2008

Two Paper Wasps - tend cells on their comb'-like nest. The wasps build a single vertical comb from wood pulp mixed with saliva, and hang it from a stalk

EL-1943
Two Paper Wasps - tend cells on their comb'-like nest. The wasps build a single vertical comb from wood pulp mixed with saliva, and hang it from a stalk.
Common in tropical and eastern Australia, one species to Victoria.
Ropaldia revolutionalis
This can be up to 20cm in length and usually has a double row of adjacent cells, each containing a single egg. The larva is fed on chewed-up caterpillars and the cell is sealed when the larva is ready to pupate. Small numbers of combs are built adjacent to one another as the colony expands, and they are usually placed low among the leaves of shrubs, or under the eaves of houses. / Body length to 12mm; one comb has up to 50 cells.
Eric Lindgren
Please note that prints are for personal display purposes only and may not be reproduced in any way

© Eric Lindgren / ardea.com