A vote for wasps

At first glance I thought my blue budgie was sprouting a nasty tumour. Then I realized I was looking at a mud wasp's construction.   They are turning up everywhere at present - it must be the season.

There was another on the wall beside the kitchen door.

When I removed it, a neat row of chrysalli was exposed.

Elsewhere, right before our eyes, another variety of wasp decided to build on the spout of a watering-can sitting on the window-sill.  We watched the construction take place over two days, the meticulous little builder plying back and forth with loads of mud.  When it reached this stage, with an opening at the end (see below), she deposited her single capsule, plus a dead insect for nourishment, and sealed it up.  I have been checking it every day, hoping I might catch the young emerging.

Other wasps have been about also, building papery houses that they fix to the walls of our house as well as branches in the garden.

My first impulse is to destroy these untidy attachments and muddy lumps and crush the young before they emerge.  After-all, you only need to experience one wasp bite to regard these creatures with caution forever more.

Not many people know, though, that wasps are one of the unsung heroes of the kitchen garden.  Of all the many wasp families, the majority of them perform a valuable role, ridding the garden of a range of harmful pests.  Some are parasitic, depositing their larva in the bodies of caterpillars, which they later consume.  Others are fierce predators, attacking pests such as grasshoppers and aphids that do so much damage in a vegie garden.  Hence my decision not to remove the wasp constructions as they appear.

Other insects that are beneficial in the garden include spiders, ladybirds, praying mantises and hover flies.  To the organic gardener they are fondly known as 'Bennies'.  Insecticides are to be avoided because they do not discriminate, and will wipe out these good insects as well as the destructive ones like grasshoppers and aphids.

Frogs, lizards and snakes perform the same role as the Bennies, preying on the harmful insects and keeping their populations down.  My bearded hinterland dwelling companion caught sight of two brown snakes while clearing undergrowth this week.  They can be deadly to humans, but are impossible to eradicate when surrounded by bush as we are.   Thus, we never go without shoes - and are always cautious when working around thick vegetation.

It's the same with the wasps.  A repellant on the skin is the best precaution when working outside.  But otherwise we are glad to have their presence.

(Post script: In case you should be concerned about my little budgie -- she is not in pain.  This budgie is made of strong stuff - resin to be precise.  She and my tin cat, Chatterley, are birds of a feather.)

Comments

[elsewhere]

So did you disencumber the budgie?

[Val]

So glad when I read that postscript, that really did look like a budgie with a mud nest weighing it down.

Interesting photos, raised my awareness of these constructions that I have seen before. And good to know that there are positives about wasps. We're still not happy sharing our outdoor meals with them though, and are happy we spent the money on screening in part of our veranda. What a difference that has made.

[Tabor]

I am amazed. Insects build their casings on the back of your bird??? Wow!

[Jude]

They are very life-like resin birds, Tabor.

[Tabor]

I guess I should read the last line more carefully!

[Jarvis Cocker]

Holy shit I thought that was a real budgie at first, I was horrified for the poor thing.