As the April sun gently warms a pile of firewood, a royal presence awakens. This is the wasp queen, one of the fortunate few who mated in the late autumn and survived the harsh winter in hibernation. Emerging into the spring air, she is poised to begin her reign. Many of her sisters were not so lucky, having fallen prey to predators or the challenges posed by climate change.
During the winter months, numerous queens hibernated in compost piles and underground burrows, only to be consumed by spiders. Climate change-induced warm winters caused some queens to emerge prematurely, finding no food available. Others that survived the winter faced new threats in spring, such as carnivorous plants, birds, and manmade pesticides. Our queen, however, is the sole survivor of her old hive and must now establish a new one.
Before she can begin her new colony, the queen needs sustenance. She ventures to a citrus grove, where honeybee hives offer a source of nourishment. The bees, immobilized by the morning chill, are covered in sugar water, which the queen eagerly consumes. Rejuvenated, she searches for a secure nesting site and finds an ideal tree hollow, safe from the elements and predators.
Using her mandibles, she chews wood and plant fibers to create a paper-like pulp, constructing around 50 brood cells that form the foundation of her nest. With sperm stored from the previous fall, she lays a fertilized egg in each cell, producing up to 12 eggs in just 20 minutes. Within a week, these eggs will hatch into female larvae.
Until her brood hatches, the queen must hunt smaller insects to feed them, all while expanding the hive, laying more eggs, and defending against intruders. Unlike bees, wasps can sting multiple times, providing the queen with a formidable defense. Despite her hectic schedule, she rarely needs to feed herself. Her larvae digest insects into a sugary substance that sustains her.
By the end of July, the larvae mature into adult workers, ready to take on the tasks of foraging, building, and defending the hive. The queen can now focus solely on laying eggs, supported by the workers’ efforts and their unfertilized eggs. Although each worker lives for only about three weeks, the queen’s continuous egg-laying ensures a growing workforce.
In just one summer, the nest expands to the size of a basketball, housing thousands of workers. This large population requires ample food, which they find in nearby gardens. However, their presence often alarms humans, leading to attempts to swat them away or use pesticides, which can harm local wildlife.
Despite their fearsome reputation, wasps play a crucial role in the ecosystem. As top invertebrate predators, they help control populations of spiders, mites, and centipedes. They also consume crop-eating insects, benefiting farms and gardens, and even contribute to pollination and winemaking by biting into grapes to start fermentation.
As autumn approaches, the queen shifts her focus to nurturing a new generation of queens and reproductive males, known as drones. This new brood requires more food, but as summer ends, resources dwindle, prompting the foraging wasps to take greater risks. By September, the hive’s organization begins to falter, and scavengers move in.
Eventually, the fertile queens and drones depart in a massive swarm. As the days grow colder, the workers starve, and the queen’s life comes to an end. However, the newly fertilized queens have successfully mated and are ready to find shelter for the winter. A woodpile offers the perfect refuge for their long hibernation, ensuring the cycle of life continues.
Draw a detailed diagram of the wasp life cycle, starting from the queen’s emergence in spring to the new queens’ hibernation in winter. Label each stage and write a brief description of what happens during that stage.
Using materials like paper, cardboard, and glue, construct a model of a wasp nest. Include different sections such as brood cells and the queen’s chamber. Explain the purpose of each part of the nest.
In groups, role-play the journey of a wasp queen from hibernation to establishing a new hive. Assign roles such as the queen, predators, and workers. Act out the challenges and triumphs the queen faces.
Research the ecological role of wasps in controlling pest populations and pollination. Create a presentation or poster to share your findings with the class, highlighting the benefits wasps provide to the environment.
Write a creative short story from the perspective of a wasp queen. Describe her daily activities, challenges, and interactions with other insects. Use information from the article to make your story accurate and engaging.
Wasps – Wasps are flying insects that can be found in many environments and are known for their ability to sting. – Wasps help control pest populations by feeding on other insects.
Queen – The queen is the female leader of a colony of social insects, such as bees or ants, responsible for laying eggs. – In a bee hive, the queen lays all the eggs that will grow into new bees.
Hive – A hive is a structure where bees live and store honey, as well as raise their young. – The beekeeper checked the hive to see how much honey the bees had produced.
Larvae – Larvae are the immature form of insects that hatch from eggs and often look very different from the adult insects. – The larvae of the butterfly are called caterpillars and they eat leaves to grow.
Predators – Predators are animals that hunt and eat other animals for food. – Owls are predators that hunt mice and other small animals at night.
Ecosystem – An ecosystem is a community of living organisms and their environment, interacting as a system. – The forest ecosystem includes trees, animals, insects, and the soil they live in.
Survival – Survival refers to the ability of living things to stay alive and thrive in their environment. – Animals have different adaptations that help them with survival in harsh climates.
Insects – Insects are small animals with six legs, a body divided into three parts, and usually wings. – Ants, butterflies, and beetles are all examples of insects.
Food – Food is any substance that living organisms consume to obtain energy and nutrients. – Plants produce their own food through a process called photosynthesis.
Climate – Climate refers to the long-term weather patterns in a particular area, including temperature and precipitation. – The climate in the rainforest is warm and wet, which helps many plants and animals thrive.
