Before Breakfast

Most mornings we start the day with a freshly-brewed cup of coffee, but today we were eager to see if the occupants of the paper wasp nest that Phil had very carefully removed last night from its garden hose location and placed in the freezer, were quite definitely dead.

The two adult wasps that were captured with the nest were indeed dead, and after a quick look at them, we decided to see what was under some of the caps of the nest's cells. Phil carefully wielded his modeling knife, which has a scalpel blade, to open the caps.

In several, we could see tiny white eggs affixed to the side of each cell; in another, we found a pupa well along on her development from egg to larva to ready-t0-hatch infertile adult. You can see that delicate creature next to this nest on Phil's blip here.

Wanting to learn more about these fascinating insects, I found an informative YouTube video on yellow jackets, which are closely related to paper wasps. If you're interested in science, do watch it -- I found the activity level of the larvae fascinating, as was the scene of a mature adult yellow jacket leaving her cell.

I love being married to a man who is happy to postpone breakfast in order to explore the often-ephemeral natural world around us!