Jewel Wasp

A warning to all readers: this is NO ORDINARY BLACK 'N YELLOW WASP. It is the green, shiny, dazzling JEWEL WASP! Jewel wasps are one of the very few species of solitary wasps. Each lives on its own, unlike their normal relatives who live in colonies. As its name suggests, the jewel wasp looks beautiful and shiny like a jewel. It feeds on the nectar from flowers. There are claws at the end of its jointed legs for holding on to things like rocks. The pair of huge compound eyes give the jewel wasp excellent eyesight. These eyes are made of many separate lenses and the wasp can look all around it for predators like lizards.

There are tiny hairs on its body which are used to absorb heat. Without heat, the jewel wasp cannot stay active. The orange colour on its legs warns predators that the wasp is poisonous. The antennae can pick up scents in the air and help the wasp find its food.

HOW DOES A MOTHER WASP PREPARE FOR THE BIRTH OF HER CHILD?

First the female wasp stings a cockroach and paralyses it. Then, she drags it into a hole in the sand. After that, she lays one, and just one egg INSIDE the poor, paralyzed cockroach. 3 days later, the egg hatches. By that time the cockroach is already dead, but fortunately the poison from the sting has antiseptic in it and the flesh didn't rot away. The larva just feeds on the dead cockroach! Horribly disgusting! It doesn't really matter if the larva is legless, for the cockroach is big enough to provide all its meals and it doesn't have to move around looking for food. When the larvae has eaten enough, it turns into a pupa. 3 weeks later, it becomes a fully grown adult wasp.

DID YOU KNOW?

A jewel wasp's sting developed from the egg-laying tube thousands of years ago. That means female wasps, and ONLY FEMALES has a sting at the end of the abdomen.