Sunday, April 16, 2006
First worker!
The first worker hatched today. It was around 11 p.m.; I checked the room where I keep these wasps and other creatures, as I do every night. I looked into the enclosure only to see the new wasp half out of her pupal cell. I rushed for my camera and managed to get a couple of shots.
The new wasp is a lot smaller and lighter in colour than the queen. In these wasps, there is no distinct difference between queens and workers (the queen is simply a young female who had mated, survived the winter and managed to start a new nest). However, the first workers are usually very small, because the queen has to single-handedly feed so many larvae; thus they are not as well-nourished as their younger siblings will be. The colour will darken after a few days too.
