Monday, June 22, 2020,

This is a Yellow Jacket. I was photographing Bumblebees in Kings Park when I noticed this scary looking critter on an old piece of lumber. It seemed to be eating something on the wood, or maybe even the wood itself. I was somewhat hesitant to examine its actions closer. Call me a wuss. I can take it. 🙂

This colorful wasp would spend a few minutes “nibbling” at the wood and then it would fly off, only to return to the same spot after ten minutes or so. This went on for about an hour. When I got home, I did some research and found out that Yellow Jackets will chew wood and mix it with their saliva in order to create a quick-drying pulp with which they use to assemble their nests. Pretty cool, right?  JK

JK