General Wasp Keeper's Information Thread: Volume Two

[Talkenlate04]

Well one step forward! I came home today and found a new worker and another cap had been made by a grub! :clap:

 

[Talkenlate04]

I have the foundress! The empty cell that contained the female that hatched yesterday has a new egg in it already. Here is a shot of them in natural light outside on my deck and they were sharing a freshly molted baby dubia.

 

[Tleilaxu]

VERY good! You are well on your way to being a wasp hobbyist, now if only my newly caught fuscatus would eat so well.

 

[echostatic]

very cool! it certainly looks like your colony is off to a healthy start.

 

[Talkenlate04]

VERY good! You are well on your way to being a wasp hobbyist, now if only my newly caught fuscatus would eat so well.

I hand fed them that meal by ripping a freshly molted baby dubia in half then giving it to them. I am not going to do that much longer, I just want to ensure they start well. The worker decided to fly out of the setup into my T room but went right to the window and I caught her and returned her to the nest. Guess I better start remembering to put the lid back on!

 

[Talkenlate04]

So I tried something new today. It is really really hot here so I decided to try and put the setup outside to see if they would forage for food and still return to the nest. A few hours later I started watching them and they are doing just that with no problems! They seem to be storing a large amount of gel looking nectar I guess. Its being deposited in almost every cell. Ill post pictures later. The one think I find interesting is the queen is leaving the nest as well to forage. That makes me somewhat nervous because she might get picked off by a bird or something, but so far so good. Ill post pictures of the food storage later when it cools off somewhat.
Oh one more thing, the empty cell that had the one worker I have in it, it has two eggs in it now. I have never seen that happen. I wonder what will happen to the other egg. :?

 

[Tleilaxu]

I would not allow them to free range until the queen ceases to leave the nest, otherwise if she dies your SOL. As for that other egg it will be eaten. Also they do store nectar in the cells as you noticed, it actually tastes like honey.

Also make sure that they have a food dish with honey, and another with water*And make sure its shallow so they can get out if they fall in*. Also provide torn up cardboard, the thick kind not like the stuff you fine on ceral boxes.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I have been using a rotten log and they seem to like that and have been using it to add to their nest. I have a cup of with dubia roaches in it that I have seen them frequenting. And a cup of sugar water the have been all over. Ill have to try honey.
And all that nectar is gone! There is some left in the cells with only eggs, but the big chunks I was seeing earlier this morning were eaten by the grubs. Ill post a few pictures soon.
One question, if the foundress did die, will another female take over? Or does she have to be mated for that to occur?

 

[Tleilaxu]

If she died a worker would try to care for the nest though she would not be able to lay fertile eggs and there is some info out now that says that workers cannot become queens unless they get fed a certain amount of food. Generally though if a female were to take over and be a successful queen she would need to be mated. You can tell your queen from her worker by the black spot in the center of her face, her workers will not have that. This is a queen trait in dominula (black spot in center of the face)

I am surprised the larva ate the nectar solution, though I think the adults did when you were not looking.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Even with that much nectar being there you think it was just the two adults? There was a huge drop in almost every cell.

That is what I though, that the adults existed off the nectar and the grubs ate pre chewed insects and such given to them by the adults.

The queen is out again, her trips are becoming longer and longer. I wonder why the one worker is not going out at all. :? Maybe she is being left behind to guard the nest. I am assuming once a few more hatch she will stop going out like that?

 

[Tleilaxu]

Most likely that worker is still to young to do heavy foraging yet so mom still does the main work. I personally would not let them free range until there are at least three more workers on the nest. Yeah I am also assuming that the queen wil remain behind once there are more workers.

As for the nectar I am unaware of larva eating it, I really think it was the adults.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I watched the queen place nectar right in front of the larva just a while ago. I am almost positive they are eating it, Ill try to film it later if I can. Here are some pictures from today. They are growing so fast!

 

[Tleilaxu]

Wow thats cool! I never would have thought the larva would eat that!

 

[Talkenlate04]

So whichever egg hatches first will be eat the other egg in that cell with two eggs? That will be interesting!

 

[Dark]

the only wasps I have living near me are yellow jackets, If i catch a queen and her nest will she be able to live in a cage without being too stressed out? Are yellow jackets too easily startled to be able to observe them? Sorry if this has been asked before.

 

[Talkenlate04]

the only wasps I have living near me are yellow jackets, If i catch a queen and her nest will she be able to live in a cage without being too stressed out? Are yellow jackets too easily startled to be able to observe them? Sorry if this has been asked before.

I think you are asking for trouble keeping those little demons. They are very aggressive. I think you would be stung a lot. Defiantly not worth it.
Where are you at that there are no wasps?

 

[Dark]

New York, only wasps I have seen are yellow jackets and some other wasp that makes mud burrows and I haven't fond a reachable wasp nest in many years to even try keeping them in captivity.

 

[Talkenlate04]

New gal hatching out! She has one wing that is totally useless so I guess she is going to be nest bound for her lifetime.

 

[dtknow]

What is it that you guys call yellow-jackets?

I'd like to try this but no nests near me ATM.

 

[Talkenlate04]

If you type wasp into google and type yellow jacket into that search you can see how different they really are.