32 Nebraskaland • July 2022
they can place wherever they like.
Yellowjackets and paper wasps create their large nests
by making their own building materials out of plant fi bers.
They collect those fi bers by gnawing them off dry wood or
grass stems. After carrying the material to the nest, they
gather water and regurgitate it onto the mass of fi ber before
chewing it to the right consistency for building. It is thought
that secretions from the mandibles, similar to saliva, may
help further strengthen the resulting "paper" that is used to
construct the nests.
Food for both adult and larval wasps is tied strongly to
plant diversity. Since most adults feed on fl ower nectar, they
rely on both an abundance of fl owers and a wide variety of
fl owering plants. Most plants only fl ower for a few weeks a
year, but there are wasps looking for food throughout the
growing season, so it takes numerous plant species to ensure
a constant supply of nectar from spring through fall.
Wasps also need access to lots of invertebrates to capture
and/or lay eggs in. Because many wasps are particular
about the kind of prey they're looking for, both diversity
and abundance of invertebrates is important. The richness
of invertebrate species is usually positively correlated with
plant diversity, so landscapes with lots of plant species will
provide well for the needs of both adult and larval wasps.
Not All Bad
By now, perceptive readers might have noted some
similarities between wasps and bees, as well as between
wasps and ants. That's no accident, since bees and ants are
actually descendants of wasps. Evolutionarily speaking, ants
are just wasps that gave up fl ight, except when mating. Bees
are basically wasps that became vegetarian, feeding their
larvae pollen and nectar instead of meat. Ants with wings
look like wasps, and while bees are generally tubbier than
their skinny-waisted wasp cousins, some species require a
microscope and considerable expertise to determine if they
are one or the other. Ants and bees are fascinating in their
This female sand wasp (Bembix americana) is reopening her nest burrow in a Sandhills blowout. She will catch and kill fl ies, in
the air, to feed her developing larvae, continuing to bring fl ies until the larvae are nearly full grown.
