I almost ran into these guys yesterday as I was walking along the edge of a wash in our pasture late yesterday afternoon. Because of the light at different angles, it looks like two different nests, but it is actually the same one. It was hanging on a branch about face high to me and I was looking at cattle rather than worrying about what I might run into. If it wasn't for the buzzing, either the thorns on that branch or, the wasps were going to take a toll. Fortunately, though my hearing isn't what it once was, it was adequate for the occasion and I avoided the hazard.
When I was a kid, every wasp was a yellow jacket. They looked very much like these and that's the name I was taught. I am learning there are a lot of different kinds of wasps. These are a type of Paper Wasp, probably Polistes exclamans or, P. apachus. Paper Wasps are very common throughout Texas. True Yellow Jackets are a bit larger and thicker bodied with a distinct black and yellow pattern. Growing up, I didn't know the difference, just that their sting caused a reaction that seriously affected me and the afflicted area would swell. I learned to avoid them.
Wasp nests are an amazing feat of construction. Each chamber will hold a developing wasp behind the thin door which, when fully grown, will emerge. They bring to mind the Pueblos of the American Southwest. I wonder if the early Puebloans got the idea of their construction techniques from wasps? It wouldn't surprise me. We can learn much from nature if we just pay attention.
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