Page 119 - One Million Things: Animal Life - The Incredible Visual Guide

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3 pupa. After a few days, a worker wasp emerges
In each cell the queen lays one egg that hatches into a larva or grub. The larva grows rapidly as it is fed on a diet of chewed-up caterpillars and other insects brought to the nest by workers. When it is fully grown the larva spins a silken cap to close its cell, and becomes a from the cell, ready to take on its duties.

LARVAE
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QUEEN WASP When a young queen emerges in the spring from hibernation, last fall’s mating means she is ready to lay fertilized eggs. First, she finds a nest site and constructs a small comb of paper cells in which she lays her eggs. When they hatch, the sterile female workers continue the work of building the nest while their queen lays more eggs. The queen releases chemicals called pheromones to prevent her workers from becoming queens, and to control their behavior so they perfor

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COLONIES Across the animal kingdom there are many examples of animals living together in social groups or colonies. The closest knit and most organized colonies are found in the group of insects that includes ants, bees, and wasps. Individuals within these insect societies belong to specific castes or classes, each with their own tasks, such as food gathering or rearing young. A wasp colony like this one is dominated by its queen. WASP CASTES For most of its life the nest contains only two castes, the larger queen and

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