Thursday, April 20, 2006
Unusual food hanging behaviour.
I offered the wasps a small grasshopper today. I had to use forceps for this, but since the grasshopper's head was far away from the tip of the forceps, they weren't really bothered. All three pounced on the grasshopper, stinging it repeatedly before proceeding to bite and chew it open.
Some unusual behaviour was seen today. The grasshopper, though small, was bigger than the wasps, and obviously had lots of flesh. They could not feed all to the larvae, but they actually hung/stuck the remaining part on one corner of the nest! It was there virtually the whole day. I observed them going back to bite out some flesh every now and then. Finally, at around 10 p.m., all that was left was the empty shell. The wasps then dropped it off the nest. This behaviour is fascinating; it is almost like keeping a larder!
The photo is of very poor quality because it was shot through glass.
