What wasps eat: foods they like and don’t like

Diet of adult wasps

The feeding habits of the larva and the mature individual are different.
This necessity is explained by the fact that at different stages of development insects will not fight each other for food. Consequently, the young animals will not starve and will continue to develop normally. When thinking about what wasps eat, it may seem that they eat any food. This is not entirely true. In fact, insects have a varied diet, however, they are quite picky. The most preferred food is the juices of fruits and berries that ripen just during the peak period of insect activity. This is a nutritious food that perfectly saturates wasps. Pests love the pulp of the fruit, leaving behind the peel. This indicates selectivity in choosing food. Favorite fruits: plums, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and, of course, grapes.

The most preferred food is the juices of fruits and berries that ripen just during the peak period of insect activity.

As other fruits (pears, apples) ripen, insects can move on to them. However, such fruits are less preferable for striped pests, since they are harder. If the fruit is ripe enough, the wasp may well feast on it. For this reason, farmers actively use special fruit protection - a mesh cover. Adult wasps also have other preferences - fallen fruits in which the fermentation process has begun. This feature explains why kvass and beer are used in the manufacture of traps.

Adults have a sweet tooth. They love not only natural fruits, but also sugar, honey, and jam. They prefer syrups. In summer, it is better not to store wet sugar in the open, as it will attract wasps. Insects of this species are required to feed their offspring. The larvae are able to feed only on insects, which the adult chews to a pulp. When exchanging food, the insect receives the nutrients it needs from the saliva of the young. In addition, the striped pest feeds on the hemolymph of captured insects.

Adults have a sweet tooth. They love not only natural fruits, but also sugar, honey, jam

There are certain species of wasps, the representatives of which, at different stages of development, prefer very unusual products: the larvae of fellow wasps (other wasps) or beetles. It would seem that the striped predator does not pose a threat to large insects, however, some species attack spiders that are many times larger.

Based on all that has been said, we can conclude that wasps prefer plant food, and the larvae are divided into two groups: those that parasitize the offspring of beetles, and those that feed on chewed insects.

Is fish and meat included in the diet?

In addition to fruit juice, sweet syrups, fermented fruits and insects (beetles, bees, etc.), striped pests are attracted to meat. However, the wasps do not feed on it, but only transport it to the nest, where they feed it to the larvae. Meat, like insects, is a source of food for young striped predators.

Adults have a developed oral apparatus, allowing them to pinch off tissue fibers and then carry them to the larvae. At the same time, sexually mature wasps perform a single function - chew their prey.

You can get meat almost everywhere: it’s either carrion in the forest belt, or fish or meat products in the markets.

You can get meat almost everywhere: it’s either carrion in the forest belt, or fish/meat products in city markets. For this reason, there is no need to specifically kill small animals, since you can find a food source that is in the public domain. The described diet, in general, is the same for representatives of most species of predators.

Hornets feed in a similar way. Some species are more scrupulous in their choice of food: they first squeeze out the nectar they eat from the bees’ digestive system, and only after that do they give the caught prey to their offspring. This necessity is due to the fact that nectar is dangerous (poisonous) for the larvae.

Interesting video: Amazing insects - Wasps

Food source for larvae

The young generation in larval form is insectivorous. Common paper wasps, as well as some species of hornets, feed their offspring on their own. This need is due to the almost complete immobility of the larvae. The young are only able to move their heads slightly.

The diet of larvae includes insects of different types and forms:

Spiders
Slugs
Caterpillars
Butterflies
Cockroaches
Insect offspring
Bedbugs.

In addition, if there are beehives nearby, the striped predator will destroy the bees. Large hornets bring offspring not only insects, but also lizards and small rodents. The diet of single wasps may differ, since most representatives of such species prefer more monotonous food. For certain types of wasps, only bedbugs are suitable, for others - beetle larvae.

Many types of road wasps feed their offspring on spiders, including quite poisonous tarantulas

The lifestyle, and therefore the eating habits, differ among Scolia (a type of wasp). These insects do not create protected conditions (nests) for the development of offspring. Eggs are laid directly on caught and neutralized prey, where the process of feeding the young occurs.

There is even a type of wasp whose representatives parasitize their fellow wasps. They lay eggs on the larvae, making their way into the nest.

What do larvae eat?

The gastronomic preferences of wasps do not end with syrups, berries and other sweets. larvae are predators . Adults catch a wide variety of insects as food for their offspring.

The wasps chew the soft tissues of the prey, and the larva gets a protein gruel, which promotes rapid growth and weight gain. The adult individual itself licks the lymph from its victim, which contains all the nutritional elements it needs.

Another unusual food source for wasps is larval saliva. The latter secrete it in a decent amount after eating the victim (the process is tropholaxis). So the striped pests will not go hungry in any case.

Adult food

Adult wasps may appear to be omnivores. This is not entirely true, the wasp eats almost everything, but there are certain preferences. The most favorite food of adults is the juice and pulp of berries, fruits that ripen during the peak period of insect activity.

We can safely say that pests choose food. They prefer to leave the peel of the fruit, eating only the pulp. They especially like grapes, raspberries, plums, and blackberries.

Closer to autumn, pears and apples ripen, which they also do not refuse, but do not particularly like them. These fruits are rough and hard. If part of the crop has already fallen to the ground and has spoiled a little, they will eat them first.

Pests can be called sweet lovers. They happily eat honey, jam, and sugar. The most favorite delicacy is various syrups. They love kvass, beer, and various lemonades.

Features of the appearance of insects

A distinctive feature of wasps is alternating yellow and black stripes on the body. They have a pair of membranous wings, antennae as sensory organs, and strong jaws used for tearing apart prey. The sizes of insects vary significantly depending on the species, the body of burrowing wasps is 5-20 mm long, and scolia - 10-100 mm.

Information. Wasps belong to the suborder stalked belly, which is the name given to insects that have a thin waist - an anatomical segment connecting the chest and abdomen.

The bright coloring of adults warns of the presence of poison. Only females can sting the enemy. The sting is a modified ovipositor, so males do not have one. Adults (imago) feed on plant foods; they prefer soft fruits and berries - raspberries, peach, plums, grapes. They enjoy nectar and sweet syrup. The need for proteins is satisfied by licking the hemolymph - the blood of the victims. The larvae are carnivorous; they are fed with body parts of caterpillars, spiders, beetles, and cicadas.

Do wasps die in winter?

In autumn, when the air temperature steadily drops, wasps gradually begin to disappear. They no longer circle over sweet fruits hanging on trees or fly into houses. The thing is that most of the adult individuals die with the onset of cold weather, and the remaining ones hide in secluded corners until spring.

To understand why this happens, we need to take a closer look at the process of wasp reproduction. All summer the queen reproduces sterile worker wasps. And only at the end of summer do males and females capable of fertilization begin to appear. They actively mate, after which the males, whose main task is completed, die.

Dead wasps

The same fate awaits worker wasps, who live for about 1.5–2 months and fall asleep when the temperature drops below the critical mark of +10⁰С, and die with the arrival of real cold weather. The queen leaves the nest in the fall, like other insects, and also dies with the onset of cold weather.

As a result, only fertilized females remain for the winter. They hide in secluded places, fall into suspended animation and sleep until spring.

Where do they winter?

The most common version is that after the wasps leave the nest with the onset of cold weather, they look for a place where they can overwinter. But there is another one - insects are looking for a place to winter not in the fall, but starting from the end of summer. In any case, the shelter in which the wasp will spend the winter must maintain a constant temperature and be as closed as possible from wind and frost. That is why in the fall, wasps sometimes actively climb into a house, barn, or bathhouse, hiding in cracks and crevices.

Most often in nature, wasps spend the winter in places such as:

tree bark (insects gnaw holes in it or get into existing cracks);
in old rotten stumps;
in rotten fallen trees;
in a heap of fallen leaves.

Wasps moisten the walls of their winter shelter with saliva. Thanks to the enzymes it contains, the wood becomes denser and better protects the female until the weather warms up and she can fly again.

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.

Wintering process and diet

If anyone is interested in what wasps eat in winter, then essentially nothing. Since they fall into suspended animation, all processes in the body, including metabolic processes, slow down significantly. The wasp not only doesn’t eat, it doesn’t even move and practically doesn’t breathe. However, nature has arranged it so that even in hibernation, the insect’s body receives nutrients. The female has been accumulating them since the end of summer, when she begins to actively eat, absorbing more food than usual. So, when flying away in search of winter shelter, the wasp already has a decent supply of nutrients, which helps her survive the cold winter.

Powering public OSes

The taste preferences of adults and larvae differ. Workers are engaged in obtaining food. They provide nutrition to the uterus and young offspring, and make reserves for a “rainy day.” In summer, wasps feed on flower nectar, honey from bees, juices of fruits, vegetables, and berries. They love sweets, as well as rotten foods.

Adults can be found in the vineyard, on raspberries, strawberries, apples, pears, plums, apricots, melons, and watermelons. Insects are attracted to kvass, lemonade, fruit and vegetable juice, jam, and syrup. Predators often attack bee families and destroy the hive in just 2 hours. They eat honey, the bees are taken to feed the larvae.

The statement that wasps eat meat is not entirely correct. The common wasp feeds on juices and sweets. Protein food is necessary for the larvae. They hunt beetles, flies, butterflies, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and spiders. Often predators can be found on meat and fish. They bite off the prey and take it to the nest.

Interesting!
The wasps chew the meat, roll it into small balls, give it to the larvae, they secrete saliva, which serves as food for the imago. There is an exchange of food. Adult wasps can feed on meat, but only after the young have eaten it.

Feeding single wasps

Adults eat nectar, fruit and vegetable juices, and honey. Protein food is required to feed the younger generation. Unlike social wasps, solitary wasps do not build multi-tiered nests and feed their offspring alone in a special way.

Feeding single wasps

The female attacks beetles, spiders, bees, and larvae of large insects. Paralyzes the victim, but does not kill. It drags it into a previously prepared hole in the ground, on a tree, and lays an egg in the body. After a few hours, a larva appears and begins to eat the victim alive for 2 weeks.

Interesting!
Wasp venom immobilizes the victim, but leaves him alive. In this way, the insect provides its young with nutrition for the entire development period. The larva eats away the organs gradually, starting with the least important ones. Only at the end of the development of the parasite does the victim die.

What wasps eat depends on the species.

The philanthus wasp, also known as the bee wolf, eats honey and feeds the larvae with bees. For them, nectar and sweet food act similarly to poison. Having caught a bee, the philant squeezes out and eats the honey, then feeds the carcass to the younger generation.
The large ground wasp Scolia preys on the larvae of the rhinoceros beetle, the beetle. The insect burrows into the ground, finds the victim, paralyzes it with poison, and drags it into a previously prepared hole. Lays an egg. A separate burrow is created for each larva.
Pompilid or road wasps choose various spiders as food for their larvae. Some of them hunt poisonous tarantulas. Nests are built in the soil or inside branches, shoots, and old hollows. The spider's body is enough to feed one growing individual.

On a note!
The specific nutrition of single species makes them useful for humans. Adults eat nectar, helping to pollinate plants. The larvae are fed insects, most of which are agricultural pests.

Zombies among animals: wasp wasp, woodlice sucker and fungus that causes suicide in ants

Movies about zombies scare us because it is almost impossible to escape infection. The corpses with empty eyes and foaming saliva are somewhat reminiscent of those infected with the rabies virus. But this virus is actually a parasite that manipulates the host's behavior for its own purposes. It also causes aggression in the infected person in order to force him to spread the virus through bites. But not only viruses do this, but also quite tangible organisms - insects, fungi, worms and crustaceans.

Climb to explode

Caterpillars can be considered champions in the number of microorganisms and insects that control their minds.

The “zombie virus” is a baculovirus microorganism that sends caterpillars from Lancashire in north-west England to certain death. It blocks the caterpillars' natural aversion to sunlight, forcing them to climb to the tops of plants, where they quickly die. Moreover, the baculovirus literally explodes from the corpse of its host to enter the body of a new victim.

The virus infected the caterpillars of oak eggar, a common moth found in many heaths and grasslands across the British Isles. The discovery was made when scientists began to notice too often the skins of dead caterpillars hanging from the tops of bushes in the Winmarley Moss Nature Reserve in the city of Hastang.

Healthy caterpillar

Similar observations have been noted by scientists throughout the region. According to Dr Miller, who led the study into this strange phenomenon, it is completely unusual for these caterpillars to climb tall bushes and be exposed to the sun because the heather and blueberries they feed on are away from sunlight. Researchers have found that baculovirus alters insects' response to light early in infection. In later stages, the parasite turns its host into a zombie-like creature, forcing it to feed continuously before ascending to higher, more open areas. The virus actively reproduces in almost every cell of the caterpillar's body. When a caterpillar dies, it undergoes a natural decomposition process in which its exoskeleton disintegrates. Each part of the caterpillar contains a baculovirus.

Horse killing riders

Some species of parasitic wasps of the Glyptapaneteles species, which are also called “ichneumon wasps,” lay their eggs in the bodies of other insects, for example, in the caterpillars already described above. The parasitic wasp injects about 80 eggs into the host at a time, along with a poly-DNA virus and a small amount of poison, which paralyzes the caterpillar until the wasp lays eggs. The virus helps them suppress the host’s immune system so that it fully adapts to the function of growing larvae and does not turn into a pupa.

After numerous studies, entomologists came to the conclusion that wasp toxins contain a special virus, or more precisely, nudivirus (virus-like particles - Hi-Tech), which helps wasps suppress the immune system of caterpillars. It is produced in the ovaries of a wasp.

Scientists believe that the genes that control the formation of these particles were acquired by the ancestors of wasps from a real virus, which was integrated into their genome 100 million years ago.

Caterpillar of the Thyrinteina leucocerae butterfly with Glyptapanteles pupae

The hatched larvae grow and develop inside the unfortunate victim, feeding on its lymph without injuring the internal organs. After which the caterpillars leave the body, attach themselves to a leaf nearby and pupate. But two or three larvae remain inside to control the caterpillar.

Under such control, instead of continuing its development, it remains in place and selflessly protects foreign larvae from other insects. When young riders are born, she dies.

Darwin believed that the existence of organisms such as Glyptapanteles contradicted one of the central tenets of natural theology, which views the study of nature as a way to demonstrate the benevolence of God. He could not convince himself that God could create insects that feed on the bodies of living caterpillars.

Riders treat spiders no less horribly. If the arachnid is unlucky, it will become a carrier of the larva, and it will feed on its blood for two weeks. At the same time, the spider, suspecting nothing, will live its former life. But the time will come when the larva will need to pupate, and then it will inject a special neurotoxin into the spider’s brain, which will force it to weave an unusual web. When the job is complete, the larva will eat the spider and use the web to pupate.

A species of parasitic flatworm, Leucochloridium paradoxum, invades the snail and develops in its body. A larva emerges from the eggs and emerges from the eye tentacles of its victim in the form of a bright growth. A blind snail loses its vigilance and no longer hides from danger. Birds can easily spot prey thanks to these new, bright “eyes.” This is how Leucochloridium paradoxum achieves its goal - it enters a new organism, where it lays its eggs. Together with the droppings, they end up in the grass, where a new cycle of their life begins.

Bloodthirsty mushrooms

A species of entomopathogenic fungus, Ophiocordyceps unatellis, modifies the behavior of ants to ensure that their spores are distributed as widely as possible. Translated, the name of the parasite sounds like “one-sided Cordyceps.” This fungus enters the ant's body through the respiratory openings, where it begins to feed on soft tissues. The enslaved ant is forced to leave its nest for a more humid microclimate favorable to the growth of the fungus. The ant eventually climbs to the top of the low bush and bites into the stem with its jaws. Then the mushroom kills the unfortunate man and eats his body. Thanks to this, a few days after the ant's death, the fungus releases a fruiting body through the base of the ant's head, turning its corpse into a launch pad from which it can release its spores and infect new insects.

Stages of ant infection with the fungus Ophiocordyceps unatellis

A study published in 2021 showed that the commonly held belief that the fungus affects the ant's central nervous system is wrong. The brain of zombie ants remains untouched by the parasite, and O. unatellis is able to control the actions of its host by penetrating and surrounding muscle fibers throughout the ant's body. Essentially, it turns the infected ant into an external version of itself. Thus, zombie ants remain partly insects, but, on the other hand, become a fungus.

Other entomopathogenic fungi Entomophthora muscae, which means “fly killer” in Greek, enters the exoskeleton of flies through one of the many cracks in their “armor.” The first thing the mushroom does is grow into a specific area of the brain that controls the behavior of the fly, causing it to land on a nearby surface and crawl as high as possible. Infected flies rise to a certain height, attach themselves to any plant and take a “death pose” with their belly up, optimal for dispersing spores. Eventually, the fungal cells infect the fly's entire body and it dies.

To make this discovery, Penn State scientist David Hughes assembled an international team of entomologists, geneticists, computer scientists and microbiologists. The goal of the study was to look at the cellular interactions between O. unatellis and Camponotus castaneus ants during a critical stage of the parasite's life cycle—the phase when the ant anchors itself to the bottom of a leaf with its powerful mandibles (jaws).

Using electron microscopes, the researchers created 3D models to determine the location, abundance and activity of the fungi inside the ants' bodies. The tissue pieces were sampled at 50 nm resolution, using a machine that could repeat the slicing and imaging process at 2,000 frames per minute over a 24-hour period. To analyze this huge amount of data, the researchers turned to artificial intelligence, and a machine learning algorithm learned to distinguish between fungal and ant cells. This allowed the researchers to determine how much of the insects' bodies could still be considered an ant and how many of them had already been transformed into a fungus. O. unatellis cells have spread throughout the ant's body, from the head and thorax to the abdomen and legs. Moreover, all these fungal cells were interconnected, creating a kind of collective biological network that controlled the behavior of the ants.

Typically in animals, behavior is controlled by the brain, which sends signals to the muscles, but the study showed that the parasite controls the host's behavior without entering the head like a puppeteer.

Corpse of an ant with mushrooms protruding from its body

The study showed that the fungus secretes tissue-specific metabolites and causes changes in host gene expression, as well as atrophy of the ant's lower jaw muscles. Altered host behavior is an extended phenotype of microbial parasite genes that is expressed through the host. But it is still unknown how the fungus achieves complete control over the behavior of its victim.

Cymothoa exigua is a unique parasite that not only eats parts of its host's body, but also completely replaces what it eats. The woodlouse penetrates the gills and settles into the body of the fish, the spotted pink snapper. She eats the tongue of her victim, and then begins to feed on mucus and, however, regularly “works” instead of the tongue. Currently, it is believed that Symothoa exigua does not pose a threat to humans. However, some researchers argue that there is still a risk of being bitten.

Woodlice, which replaced the fish's tongue

The woodlice that turns crabs into nannies

Sacculina is a parasitic arthropod from the crustacean subphylum. He really enjoys managing the crabs. Sacculina larvae are planktonic organisms that travel through salty seas and oceans. Four to five days after birth, females begin to develop a small chitinous shell (cyprisoid stage). From this moment on, the sacculina has only one goal - to quickly find a suitable crab, gain a foothold on it and calmly develop further. Most often, sacculina is attached to the claws.

There the larvae turn into a kind of living hypodermic syringe (the so-called “kentrogon”). He pierces the shell at the base of the crab's bristly hairs and introduces the next stage of the parasite, a microscopic blob called a vermigon, into the crab's blood and digestive tract. Essentially, sacculina injects itself in liquid form. After being introduced into the shell, its active growth stage begins. The shapeless lump of cells grows greatly and reaches a size of up to 3 cm. Sacculina sucks out all the nutrients from the crab, but does not kill it. The parasite turns him into an obedient zombie under complete control. Sacculina also destroys the crab's genitals, and also changes the hormonal levels of males to make them obedient and caring mothers.

Mechanism of crab infection with sacculina

The body of a fully mature sacculina is made up of parts called internodes, which look more like the roots of a plant than an animal. Its antennae spread throughout the crab's insides, and only part of the parasite is visible from the outside - the female reproductive organ, which protrudes from the abdomen. At this sac-like stage, sacculina becomes sexually mature. At the point of attachment to the abdomen, a tiny hole opens through which the male enters the sacculina, which looks like the female larva before inserting into the crab. It attaches itself to it and remains for the rest of the crab's life, producing sperm and fertilizing eggs daily. Moreover, each female sacculina has two entrance channels in which two males can live simultaneously.

Sacculina lays fertilized eggs where a healthy female crab would carry her own clutch. And the unfortunate crustacean takes care of her in the same way as she would take care of her offspring. A crab, zombified by sacculina, obediently cleans its clutch of algae and protects it from predators and other parasites. It is surprising that such crabs live longer than uninfected ones.

Some experts say the so-called chronic wasting disease, which affects deer and elk in 24 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, could infect humans in the future like something out of a zombie apocalypse.

The virus itself affects the animal's brain, spinal cord and tissues, causing aggression, loss of concentration, drooling, lack of fear of people and lethargy. This phenomenon has become a topic of conversation lately as it continues to spread across North America. Most likely, this is just a mutated rabies virus, but the disease has not been fully studied.

Beautiful and deadly

Nature created the emerald wasp, which turns cockroaches into zombies. A female wasp mates only once in her life. After mating with dozens of fertilized eggs, the wasp searches for the cockroach using sight and sound and then attacks.

But cockroaches are six or more times larger than wasps, so the accuracy of the sting strikes is extremely important. The wasp stings the cockroach in the chest and injects gamma-aminobutyric acid with taurine and beta-alanine. GABA is a neurotransmitter that blocks the transmission of motor signals between nerves and, along with two other chemicals, temporarily paralyzes the cockroach's front legs.

Wasp and cockroach fight

She then injects a sting containing a toxin into two areas of the cockroach's brain, the ganglia. The wasp uses special sensory organs at the tip of its stinger to locate the exact areas of the cockroach ganglia to attack. Once the venom is activated, the victim's entire central nervous system becomes controlled as it blocks key signals to the brain. This causes the victim to lose the sense of self-preservation, so that the wasp, being too small to carry the cockroach, leads it, like a dog on a leash, to its nest, where it lays an egg in the insect's stomach and seals it inside, and then flies off to find a new victim.

After two days, the wasp egg hatches and the newborn larva begins to destroy the cockroach. The larvae feed on hemolymph, which contains nutrients equivalent to human blood. They also consume all the organs in the abdominal cavity while the cockroach is still alive. Once all the organs are eaten, the larva consumes the cockroach's nervous system and deposits an antimicrobial secretion on the inner walls of the cockroach's corpse. Over the next month, the larva turns into a pupa inside the cockroach's corpse and, reaching the next stage of development, breaks through its shell and climbs out.

Zombies are not just horror movie props; they are common in nature, whether we like it or not. There are many examples of mind control parasites that can attack the host's nervous system, enslaving their victims in the most twisted ways. Is it possible that these mechanisms will also apply to humans? We are also just a biological species, one in a million, so zombification can affect us too.

Hornets feeding

Large representatives of the wasp family are endowed with powerful jaws and a strong sting. Their diet is similar to that of paper wasps, but due to their large size, hornets are able to prey on larger insects, even animals. Adults eat fruit and vegetable juices, flower nectar, and honey. They often attack bee hives, eat honey reserves, and carry away the corpses of bees to the larvae.

On a note!
To provide food for the younger generation, hornets prey on smaller wasps, locusts, grasshoppers, spiders, amphibians, and rodents. Even birds can suffer from attacks by predators. Hornets are extremely aggressive and grouped. If one member of the family discovers a food source, in a moment there will be a whole swarm there.

The wasps themselves become victims of birds, sidewalk spiders, hedgehogs, bears, skunks, toads, rats, and mice. Bears and hedgehogs ruin wasp families, without fear of being bitten. The sting does not reach the skin, thanks to the spines and thick fur. The shrike impales wasps on wooden spines and then eats them. Flycatchers and wasps catch striped insects in flight, tearing off the abdomen with a sting.

Who eats wasps?

In nature, wasps have quite a few natural enemies. There are animals that have found a way to eat these insects without fear of their sting. Some animals have developed immunity to wasp venom, others manage to cunningly avoid the bite of an angry insect, or they are protected from the attack of stings by a special coat.

Wasps are eaten by many birds and insects, hedgehogs, skunks, weasels, bears, rats, mice, frogs, as well as other wasps (large ones kill small ones). The shrike deftly deals with the wasp by skewering it on a tree thorn, thereby killing it. Golden bee-eaters, honey bees, and flycatchers catch insects in flight, gnawing off the tip of the abdomen along with the sting.

Side-walking spiders, salpugs and mantises lie in wait for wasps near flowers, berries and fruits, and sometimes near nests. Toads and frogs guard them near water bodies, quickly snatching individuals arriving at a watering hole. Bears and hedgehogs openly attack wasp nests; they are not afraid of stinging insects - they cannot reach their skin with their stings.

A dog or cat can also hunt a wasp; carnivorous predators in general often eat insects. And cats, moreover, love to play by lightly pressing with their paw and then releasing a flying insect. Of course, for a pet this can end in stinging, so such entertainment must be stopped immediately.

Do wasps eat meat and fish?

Very often you can see how the Hymenoptera circles over a plate with leftover meat, sits on it, and, having torn off a small portion, flies away. This manipulation is repeated many times. But entomologists explain whether wasps eat meat. In fact, the wasp does not feed on protein food, but only transports it to the younger generation.

This is an excellent nutritious protein food for the offspring lying in wait for the body . While the adult is on the way, she chews a piece of meat and feeds it to the babies. Hymenoptera are especially preoccupied with searching for protein food at the beginning of summer, when the young are growing up.

Fish and natural carrion are also of interest to sedges. This is a very convenient option, since there is no need to hunt, waste toxic substances and risk your life.

Unusual food habits of wasps

Wasps don't eat meat, but there are real gourmets among them:

Floral. Externally they are very similar to paper ones. Adults feed on nectar themselves and store it for their offspring.
Brahigastar. They collect nectar and produce honey from it, much like bees. Sweet reserves allow them to survive in the winter, and in the summer they absorb a variety of foods of plant and animal origin.
Scolia feed on nectar and lay eggs on beetle larvae. To do this, Scolia paralyze the victim and lay offspring on it. Teenagers throughout the entire period of their larval development slowly gnaw at the soft flesh of a still living insect.

Sparkles are also parasites. They feed similarly to scolia. The difference between them is that they lay eggs on the larvae of other solitary wasp species.

Wasps gourmets

These include flower wasps, which are very similar in appearance to paper wasps and are quite difficult to distinguish from each other. Adults feed on nectar themselves and store it in their nests for their offspring.

Road wasps live mainly in Asia, Transcaucasia, the Far East in countries with a tropical climate and are famous for their weakness to spiders. The victim may be many times larger than the wasp, but this does not stop it. The insect stings the spider first in the oral cavity, and then accurately determines the location of the accumulation of nerve endings that are responsible for vital activity and finishes it off.

Bees are inferior in size and flight speed and have no chance of survival when meeting a hornet. This species of wasp is one of the largest in Europe, and the appearance of a highly organized family near an apiary is rightfully considered a disaster for a beekeeper. Hornets destroy hives, destroy bees, and take brood.

Despite their menacing appearance, Scolia wasps are quite peaceful and feed on flower nectar. They do not hunt flies or bees to feed their offspring. The female attacks the rhinoceros beetle, Khrushchev or bronze beetle. It stings in the abdominal nerve center, as a result of which the victim is temporarily paralyzed and lays an egg on the immobilized beetle's abdomen. The hatched larva eats the poor fellow from the inside, and the quick-witted individual leaves the circulatory and nervous system for last. After 10-12 days, only the shell remains of the beetle.

How to remove wasps and ants using honey and boric acid

Wasps and ants are known to have a sweet tooth, so it won't be difficult to lure them into a trap using a sweet honey-based liquid. The poisonous component of the trap is boric (orthoboric) acid, which can be easily purchased at the pharmacy in the form of a white powder, packaged in 10 g bags.

You should not use an alcohol solution of this substance, as its pungent odor will only repel insects.

How does it work

The acid penetrates the body of insects, acting as follows:

destroys the organs of the digestive system;
disrupts water balance;
affects the nervous system, leading to paralysis and death from suffocation.

To destroy pests, even minimal contact with the drug is enough (for example, so that the substance remains on their paws). Moreover, sick individuals can infect their relatives.

Bait recipe

To prepare a trap based on boric acid and honey, you need to prepare a sweet syrup by bringing 0.25 liters of water mixed with 2 tbsp to a boil. l. Sahara. After the syrup has boiled for 5 minutes, add 1 tsp. honey and 5 g H3BO3. Mix thoroughly and remove from heat.

To fight ants, the resulting essence is poured into flat containers and placed on ant paths, replacing with fresh one once a week.

To get rid of wasps, you can make the following trap: cut off the top of a plastic bottle, turn it upside down and insert it into the bottle. Essence is poured into the bottom of the bottle. The wasps will fly into the trap through the neck and die, remaining in the sweet liquid. Holes are made in the bottle to distribute the honey aroma.

Unusual food habits of wasps

In nature there are many interesting species and subspecies of wasps with original gastronomic preferences. Some groups do not at all resemble their ubiquitous paper counterparts in appearance.

Scolia

These are the largest representatives of their species. Most of these wasps live in tropical and subtropical regions, but some move further north. The maximum concentration of insects was observed in Southeast Asia.

Large Scolia females reach sizes of up to 5 cm, with a wingspan of 10 cm. In a good half of the cases, the wasps are black in color with barely noticeable yellow or white spots. Adults act as pollinators.

The wasps themselves prefer nectar, and lay their offspring in the beetle colony. The victims are then paralyzed. Scolia larvae feed by eating both young and immobilized insects. Untouched foraging beetles, without realizing it, bring new food to the parasitic larvae.

Spangled wasps

These insects are completely different from the usual paper wasps. They are distinguished by their pronounced brilliant colors, where blue, green and purple pigments predominate. The mirror effect is enhanced by the special structure of the body, where the main constituent elements are inclusions and scales.

Splendid wasps are parasites . other members of their species as a food source . Insects love to eat other people's larvae, and transfer the remains to their nests (if they have them) to feed the young. It is noteworthy that ordinary paper wasps practically do not react in any way to an unexpected guest and take her actions for granted.

Road wasps (pompylids)

This species preys only on spiders . Road wasps can be found all over the globe, but the highest concentration of pompilids is recorded in the hot tropics, as well as in Central Asia and Transcaucasia. Pompylids move on their legs on plants and on the ground - where spiders are found.

The insect is distinguished by long legs and darkened wings. The road wasp practically does not stand in one place and constantly moves. Having found a suitable victim, the female first walks around it several times, looking for a vulnerable area, and only then attacks.

Spiders are formidable and dangerous opponents for wasps, but they are instinctively afraid of pompilid representatives, so they try to hide. She will never go into the victim’s den and prefers to lure him out. If the wasp succeeds, then the spider is doomed.

She delivers the first blow directly to the mouth and paralyzes his jaws, then an injection into the chest to immobilize his legs. A third hit is no longer required - the food is ready to eat. The wasp does not immediately eat the victim. She buries it in the hole and returns to the nest with a small portion of treats for the larvae.

Afterwards, if the spider is not dragged away by the ants, the wasp lays eggs on it and levels the soil, hiding the traces of its presence. As soon as the larvae appear, food is already at hand.

German wasps (mutillids)

Representatives of this species look at least unusual, especially the females. Female mutillids are completely devoid of wings, but nature rewarded them with thick and beautiful hair as compensation. Red colors mixed with black make them very similar to red ants, only without mandibles.

Unlike females, males received wings and the semblance of eyes. The former are mainly involved in obtaining food. German wasps are parasites. They do not build their own nests, but live and feed in others. Females lay eggs in the nests and young of other insects, which provide food for the future generation. This is where pupation occurs.

Simple paper wasps practically do not react in any way to such a neighbor. But other subspecies can show aggression and start exterminating the unexpected guest. Therefore, mutilids do not lay eggs right away, preferring to “test” the situation and make sure that they are sufficiently safe for themselves and their offspring.

Wasps and ant predators

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Zealous insect fighters are social wasps. They feed their larvae both with sweet juice obtained from plant flowers and with minced meat, which is prepared from chewed insects. Butterfly caterpillars also get it from them. One of the entomologists proved that several nests of ospolites placed in a field planted with cabbage are quite a sufficient measure to protect it from the caterpillars of cabbage white butterflies. The Polistes galina wasp actively exterminates the caterpillars of Diphantria butterflies that live on apple trees. The huntress is not able to drag away the entire caterpillar, therefore, tearing it into two parts, she carries it one by one to the nest. An entomologist who observed this wasp found that five wasps destroyed 12 caterpillars in four hours, and in three days, out of 150 caterpillars on a tree, 45 were destroyed, i.e. almost 30 percent.

Wasps and ant predators

... Vespid wasps have appeared in the attic of our country house. We did not experience any inconvenience from our poisonous tenants. Only occasionally did one or two striped guests fly onto the veranda and hit the glass, trying to get out of unexpected captivity. Various butterflies, riders, and tipulica mosquitoes also flew to us, and once a big-eyed mantis came to visit us. We carefully grabbed them all with tweezers and sent them out into the wild.

By autumn, annoying flies appeared at the dacha. They were constantly spinning around on the veranda and sitting on food. One day we noticed that there were fewer flies, and then we noticed the strange behavior of the Vespid wasp. She constantly visited us, diligently flying around the windows of the veranda, perching on all the spots on the glass, on the holes in the frames, on the dark heads of nails driven into the wood. Strange wasp. How to explain such incomprehensible behavior?

I had to watch her. Soon the mystery of our guest’s behavior was revealed. The wasp, it turns out, did not have good eyesight. She mistook the dark spots for flies. And only when she came across one of them, sitting down to rest on the glass, she grabbed it and fell with it onto the windowsill, used her sting, then, quickly working with her jaws, began to skin it, firmly grasping the prey with her tenacious legs. First of all, the wasp cut off its legs, then, flashing in the sun, its transparent wings smoothly fell down. Then the wasp tore off its head and, having chewed it, threw away the remains. The wasp fussed with the hairy flies for a long time. The long bristles covering their body flew in all directions, like hair from a barber's scissors. Having carefully processed the prey and turned it into a shapeless piece of minced meat, the wasp confidently went to the open door of the veranda. But not even five minutes had passed before she appeared again, starting to diligently fly around the windows and again perch on the spots before bumping into a fly. During the day, our worker made at least 50 flights. Obviously, the alarm system of the osvespid is poorly developed, and the huntress was unable to invite anyone to such a successful hunt and no one tried to follow her example. Wasps are solitary hunters, not like bees, ants and termites!

By the evening after our visitor's visits, almost all the flies had been exterminated, and in the last flights shortly before sunset the wasp had a hard time. Then we felt sorry for the diligent worker, with a net we got hold of a cunning fly hidden in a secluded corner and presented it as a gift to our deliverer from unpleasant insects.

The wasp was a talented breadwinner. She apparently learned her craft by accident: she flew onto the veranda and, trying to get back, fought against the windows until she came across a fly and caught it. We fell in love with the wasp and every time we greeted its appearance with joy...

Desperate predators - vespid wasps are usually clearly distinguished from other wasps by their yellow abdomen with black rings and wings folded into a longitudinal fold at rest. They are widespread in our country and are known to everyone. The wasps work together to build nests out of a paper-like substance. Some of them make nests from one tier of honeycombs, attaching them openly on plants, rocks, buildings, others make honeycombs of several floors and fence them outside with layers of “paper”.

Vespid wasps feed their larvae mostly with soft-covered insects - caterpillars, flies, beetle larvae, spiders, chewing them and preparing minced meat. Near populated areas and in human settlements themselves, vespids are the most fierce enemies of flies.

...Who can say which insects are the most numerous on earth?

Mosquitoes? Indeed, how many mosquitoes fly in the air in the evenings, filling it with the tedious sound of their wings! But mosquitoes live only in low and damp places. No, mosquitoes are not the most numerous insects. The most numerous are ants.

Look at the ground and you will find ants everywhere: in the north, in the south, in the mountains, in the lowlands, in the fields, in the forest... They are different, small, barely noticeable to the eye, large, up to a centimeter long, light yellow, brown, black, red, red, with spots and stripes.

Ants are social insects. From time immemorial they live in families. Each family consists of one or more females, or, as they are also called, “queens,” and numerous immature female workers.

There are about 15 thousand species of ants known in the world. Predatory ants destroy insects or feed on their corpses. In addition, an important aid in the nutrition of ants is the sweet secretions of aphids, which the ants take care of in every possible way and protect from enemies. Only a few species are herbivorous, grain-eating, or omnivorous.

...The asphalt highway is compressed on both sides by tall old poplars, and cars are constantly rushing along it. And in the crown of the trees there is an incessant hubbub of sparrows. We stopped in the shade of an alley to change the tire, remove the punctured tube and vulcanize it. While my assistants are absorbed in these simple and, alas, inevitable hassles of car travel, I wander along the roadside forest in the hope of seeing something interesting. But the search is in vain. A huge army of birds destroyed absolutely all the insects around. Failure discourages me, and I vow not to stop again where a colony of sparrows has found shelter. But, as always happens, insects are still there. At first I see a lot of dark grains on the light soil and, looking closer, I am surprised to recognize the droppings of caterpillars. Then, looking closely, I see gnawed leaves, and in some places fat caterpillars that have lagged behind their peers, and on the ground, on the grass, snow-white butterflies. These are willow grasses Stilpnotia salicis. Butterflies sparkle with purity, a shiny robe trimmed with narrow black rings on their legs. They have large black eyes, females have black, thread-thin antennae, and males have wide, delicately feathery antennae, carefully hidden under the wings. Sparrows do not touch caterpillars and butterflies; for them this food is unsuitable and inedible.

But the butterflies are not doing as well as they seem. The females are large, heavyset, with a heavy, swollen abdomen, unimportant flyers. Having fallen to the ground, they are no longer able to rise into the air, and they are immediately attacked by tetramorius ants. Even such prey is good for them. And what a feast they organize near the prey!

Ants are careful owners. As if they had been waiting for butterflies for a whole year, everyone went upstairs, busy to the limit. They are not demanding, everything is food for them. And what is most striking is that in this hasty preparation of provisions, strict consistency and pronounced skill are observed. I move from one butterfly to another, lying on the ground, and I see the same thing. First, on the sides of the abdomen of the females, nimble workers remove thick white scales and between the membranes expose delicate and thin skin translucent with greenery. Then they gnaw through the skin - and access to food is open. The ants carefully drink the blood, remove muscles and tissue remnants until soft green, large and round eggs, like balls, appear. The entire abdomen of the female is filled with green eggs.

Tetramorius ants, residents of the poplar alley, hunt for unsuccessful butterflies every year; they are familiar with them, and the old people, setting an example for the youth, cut up the carcass like real butchers.

It’s a pity that there is no time to watch the little tetramorius work longer. The car is tuned up, it's time to get behind the wheel. The way is still long. And again before my eyes is a ribbon of asphalt highway, villages, poplar alleys, mountains and deserts...

The red forest ants that inhabit our forests destroy especially many insects. Anyone who has ever been in the forest has encountered their homes - ant heaps.

The red ant is a predator. It feeds on beetles, butterflies and flies, in a word, absolutely all the insects that inhabit the forest. The ant drags everyone that can be overpowered into its home to be torn to pieces. The ant most readily attacks a wide variety of larvae with delicate skin. This is his favorite food. It is estimated that during the summer one medium-sized anthill destroys more than a million insects, including most forest pests. That is why forests, which for some reason do not have anthills, often suffer from massive reproductions of harmful insects. The red ant is not able to kill large and strong insects. But clever scouts attack molting insects when they are defenseless. Ants also eat sick, dying and dead insects.

It is enough to sit for at least half an hour near the anthill of a forest worker, and you can see various pictures of the hunt of this brave predator. A small tarantula accidentally ran into an anthill. The spider was unlucky. Ants immediately attacked him. One, two, three... Run away, run away quickly! But how, when there are so many enemies around? And the tarantula did not run: this would only irritate his pursuers. He twisted his legs and pretended to be dead. The ants spend a long time intensely probing the strange alien, so long that my legs ache from fatigue: it’s not easy to squat for more than half an hour.

In the crowd tightly surrounding the spider, two ants are waving their hind legs. This gesture is familiar. This is done when the ant is very engrossed in some prey, and its jaws, antennae, and front legs are busy. The gesture means an invitation to join.

Ants solve a difficult problem: why is the prey alive and not resisting? Maybe there is something special hidden in this? Finally, an experienced ant appears. He knows the pretense of a spider. And he, bending his abdomen in front, busily injects a drop of deadly formic acid into the spider’s mouth. An example has been set. One by one, the ants spray acid. Soon the tarantula is dead and is being dragged away to be eaten. Now several porters can handle it. The rest have nothing to do, the crowd of ants disperses.

Red forest ants are not particularly picky about food and even consume poisonous insects.

A bright red leaf-eating beetle with a black and blue back slowly crawled onto the anthill. He was immediately noticed and surrounded on all sides. The leaf gnawer is inedible. That's why he's so bright. But there are so many curious people around the beetle! Everyone wants to meet him. The examination of the poor leaf-eater continues for two hours. But the beetle is completely unharmed; no one even sprayed acid on it or tore off an antenna or paw. Game is not worth the charge. But to examine it, feel it from all sides, smell it - is it possible to refuse this? Imperceptibly, step by step, the leaf-eater nevertheless gets out of captivity and, finding himself at the edge of the nest, takes off running.

Slow blue-violet butterflies with bright crimson spots hover among the luxurious grasses and flowers of the Tuvan steppes. The colorful, eye-catching appearance of pests warns possible enemies of their inedibility. Should I throw the pestle on the anthill?

The appearance of a beautiful butterfly attracts everyone's attention. Ants came running to the guest from all sides and surrounded her tightly. How they began to finger her, feel her, and mercilessly crush her beautiful outfit! The butterfly cannot stand the unceremonious treatment, tries to fly, flutters its wings, and this destroys it. Ants do not tolerate resistance and immediately send several portions of acid.

An hour later, nothing was left of the bright suit of the moth, it was so wrinkled and filled with acid. But there is discord between the ants over the butterfly. Some are trying to drag her to the entrance, and some are resisting. Once the butterfly was completely dragged away into the grass. But there were curious people who carried her back to the anthill, and then pushed her into the entrance. What will they do with her, so poisonous?