What wasps eat - the diet of adults and larvae

Wasps are very common insects, they can be found in almost every corner of the planet, with the exception of Antarctica and the Far North. Their life is arranged no less curious than that of the nearest relatives of bees. They skillfully build their summer houses and take care of the safety of the population. Of great interest is the diet of "bright whales". What the wasps eat depends on the form of their development, stage, age. Insects can live both singly and in large friendly families in which each one fulfills its functions.

Diet os

It may seem that wasps do not show selectivity in food and eat everything in a row. Be it fruit, berry, sweets, sweets, meat, fish or even beer. However, this is actually not quite true. In adults, the larvae that they must feed are dependent. Interestingly, if we consider the family ties, then the larvae are not descendants of wasps carrying prey in the nest.

Public insects have a clear hierarchy. The uterus, she is the queen and, as a rule, the founder of the nest, lays eggs, from which larvae subsequently emerge, pupae hatch from them, and working wasps at the final stage of development. These hard workers are the main earners of the whole family.
The oral apparatus of the wasps is equipped with powerful mandibles that can gnaw fairly solid food. But this requires a lot of effort and energy from insects, so they prefer soft and liquid foods. Branch nectar, berries, fruit pulp, plant juices - these are all what wasps feed on in summer. They can not leave without their attention honey, jam, sweet drinks.

Insects have a well-developed sense of smell. The aroma of fermented, rotted fruit, they feel from afar and no worse than flies flock to it. No less acute they react to kvass, a hoppy beer drink.

Interesting fact! Wasps purposefully make holes in strawberries, grapes, and after a while they return to feast on fermented juice.

What do the larvae eat?

Unlike adult wasp vegetarians, larvae feed mainly on protein foods. Plants are not able to provide the younger generation with proteins, so adults are forced to hunt insects in order to provide nutritious nutrition to young animals.

I must say that wasps are endowed with all the data to lead a predatory lifestyle:

• The sting is a powerful weapon of wasps, they use it in extreme cases, hunting large insects or when they feel threatened. Unlike bees, wasps use a stinging tool more often, since it has no notches and is absolutely even, which allows it to be freely removed from the body of its victim. In addition, the body structure helps the insect sting at any angle. Penetrating its prey with a sharp sting, the wasp introduces poison, which is a composition of components of different actions. Some of them cause paralysis, others block the work of the nervous system, and others lead to death. A wasp can sting exactly as many times as there is enough poison. But in practice, one bite is enough for her to paralyze the object.
• Strong powerful mandibles allow the wasp to defeat the enemy without the use of poison. The jaws of the insect easily bite through and then chop the chitin cover of flies, cockroaches, spiders. Often disputes arise over whether wasps eat flies. Flies are easy prey. But with dragonflies, the wasp can not always win the battle, the latter themselves are not averse to hunting for minke whales. Therefore, whether dragonfly wasps eat depends on the outcome of the duel.

The ways of feeding the larvae differ depending on the lifestyle and species. Single wasps, skillfully grabbing their prey by the head, practically sit on top of it and, through their powerful wings, deliver to their nest. Before transportation, they often gnaw at the head of prey and lick hemolymph, which provides them with nutrients.

Having trained enough insects, the wasp lays an egg and tightly closes the hole with clay. Then she begins arranging the next mink. As for the larva, then after leaving the egg, it proceeds to absorb the feed stored for it.

The feeding algorithm in wasp larvae by living societies is somewhat different. Adult individuals themselves chop protein food, naturally it mixes with digestive enzymes and then feed the younger generation with peculiar balls.

Certain species of wasps do not bother with offspring and lay their eggs directly in the body of the insect. The hatching larva begins to eat its prey from the inside, and it does it expertly, without damaging the organs that are necessary for the life of the “breadwinner”.

Do wasps eat fish or meat

Everyone who has ever managed to cut meat at least once on the riverbank in the forest could not help but pay attention to how quickly the wasps flock to fresh meat, as a result of which it becomes literally plastered with striped buzzing creatures. The same picture can often be observed in butcher shops, in spontaneous markets. A reasonable question arises whether wasps eat meat or whether they occupy it in anticipation of other victims - flies. In fact, everything is corny simple. Wasps really bite off tiny pieces, chew them, and then carry them into nests for feeding larvae.

Fish, natural carrion are no less interesting for wasps. In this case, the insect does not need to hunt, waste poison, and to some extent risk its life.

Gourmet Wasps

These include flower wasps, which look very similar to paper wasps and are difficult to distinguish among themselves. Adult individuals themselves feed on nectar and harvest it in their nests for posterity.

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

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

Despite their formidable appearance, the wasps are quite peaceful and eat floral nectar. He does not prey on flies, bees to feed offspring. The female attacks a rhinoceros beetle, Khrushchev, or bronze. Stings in the abdominal nerve center, as a result of which the victim is temporarily paralyzed and lays an egg on the abdomen with an immobilized bug. The spawning larva eats the poor fellow from the inside, and the quick-witted individual leaves the circulatory and nervous system in the end. After 10-12 days, only the shell remains from the beetle.