>>:::<<
residence for spooks
sporting indelible costumes
haunted house
>>:::<<
Does this look spooky to you, even without seeing any of its residents?
This nest is a residence for the Bald Faced Hornet and was in my mother’s yard in her large Asian Pear tree. It was about 3-feet off the ground and larger than a football in diameter. When she told me about it last week while I was visiting her, curiosity motivated me to have a quick look and snap a couple of photos. However, fear of having a painfully potent encounter with lots of small black spooky-looking things drove me away very quickly. I have been stung before by yellowjackets and bees, and I’ve stepped on a bumble bee nest by accident – big owwwwwie for several days!! So I decided to use Wikipedia’s photo below so you can see what the little critter looks like up close.
Bald Faced Hornet – Source: Wikipedia
Here is some information about the Bald Faced Hornet:
- It belongs to a genus of wasps in North America called yellowjackets, but called a hornet because it builds paper nests. It is not a true hornet.
- Are large (greater than 15mm) with black and ivory coloring
- Are common tree-nesting wasps
- Are more aggressive than yellowjackets and other hornets
- A nest can contain 400 to 700 workers
- Will aggressively attack with little provocation, and anyone or anything that invades their space
- Have smooth stingers, and will sting repeatedly if their nest is disturbed
- Are known for their football-shaped paper nests
- Nests are abandoned by winter and are not reused
- Old nests provide good winter shelter for other insects and spiders since they are insulated from heat and cold
- It is not considered safe to approach the nest for observation purposes
- Their scary costumes and face masks are permanent!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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This is for the letter “R” Story Challenge by Frizztext, to share a short story or reflection, even an aphorism using a word tagged with each letter of the alphabet.
Kim Klassen texture used – Providence
Linking up with:
MACRO MONDAY
TEXTURE TUESDAY
OUR WORLD TUESDAY
NATURE NOTES
RURAL THURSDAY
References:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald-faced_hornet
- http://www.vespa-crabro.de/baldfaced-hornet/baldfaced.htm
- http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/bald-faced_hornet.htm
- http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/baldfaced-hornet
- http://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/stingingbiting-insects/bald-faced-hornets/
- http://www.varmentguard.com/pestlibrary/BALDFACED%20HORNET.pdf
Creativity Aroused 
Very scary indeed!
It’s November, I guess the residents has almost all gone. = you can cut open the nest if you like.
How odd – I went out onto the front lawn this afternoon and found your haunted house’s mate empty and blown open by Hurricane Sandy! I wonder where the wasps are?
It is scary, but this photo is amazing! Love the DOF.
What a creative idea and title for a blog post! I had no idea about Bald Faced Hornets and certainly didn’t know they could be so interesting! This is great!
You were brave to approach the nest at all.
When I went near a bee nest at the back of my apartment block car pack, I got stung on the cheek and that was bad enough.
By the sound of those hornets, they are really nasty little insects.
I only stayed for a few seconds, just enough to get a couple of shots.
But for you, big owwie right on the cheek! I bet that swelled and hurt for a while.
nice shot!
scary costumes and face masks! But the information is interesting.
You always come up with the most unique things to photograph. To often I forget about the smaller world but with your photos it brings me back down to earth. Thank you for all your nice comments and likes.
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That is awesome!!
I have worked around Bald Faced Hornets my entire career. When provoked they will strike like a bullet. Given the chance they’ll sting a person between the eyes. I’ve seen them knock a big, brawny timber faller right off a log. They are mean, nasty little creatures that definitely need to be avoided. Great picture.
Youch!
What a fascinatingly beautiful haunted house . . . since I nearly lost a dearly beloved to a wasp sting have always had a healthy respect for the species, beautiful homes or not!!
Shiver – beautiful shot but so scary too!
I guess you had a zoom lens on but even so it sounds scary. Amazing nest though!
Yikes! Don’t want to cross paths with that monster! Youch! It is the stinging over and over that would make me stay far away. Great photo though. 🙂
Happy Hallowin. I learned a lot about the nest. 🙂
Wise choice! I’m allergic to many insects and I have to carry an epi pen. When I went to Africa, my doctor made me bring 5. And I didn’t use one of them. I haven’t yet and I hope I don’t ever.
It´s quiet a work to build such a home with air condition 🙂
(I like insects)
Beautiful! The photo is beautiful and so is the wasp or hornet house. Imagine how much work it has taken the hornets to built it with a mixture of spit and plant fibre.
This is most definitely spooky! But wow! It looks as though its been crafted from ebony!! Quite a stunner – if you’re into that sort of thing. Now i feel awful for saying that; it has as much right to be here as i do!! Lol great shot too 🙂
Christine
once we had those RESIDENTS in a Danish hotel bedroom – I admitt, we were a little bit shocked …
Wonderful images and I LOVE the nest …. although I don’t think I’d want to get too close to it 🙂
fascinating and a little terrifying, too. your photo is just lovely though. funny how scary stuff can BE so BEautiful, too.
The residence looks really nice… well, having said that, I wouldn’t try looking in!!!!
I don’t think I’d like an encounter with the resident!!!
Beautiful picture!
🙂
It certainly looks potentially menacing! A nice take on the Halloween theme.
The nest is an amazingly beautiful structure. I’m not so fond of these creatures though.
And not much of a friend to the honeybee, I suspect. I remember yellow jackets when I was growing up in the States. Here, in southern England, the wasp is a bit more sedate but still a predator of bees…. Great post!
now, that’s a different take on things! Like it! Jane
That’s a cute hornet. Natured knows how to combine black and white stripes in the best way possible. 🙂
That is one scary looking face on that critter!
Wonderfully spooky post for Halloween…so creative!
You publish always woderful images. Also this is beutiful. Happy halloween
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Beautiful.
Nice take on “R”. I would not have thought this. Glad you did 🙂
Yikes! The nest kind of reminds me of a mummy.
It’s funny as a couple of these guys were getting a drink at one of the bird baths this summer and didn’t bother me at all as I refilled it..now I wouldn’t go anywhere near a nest..but it is amazing what they can make….Michelle
They are master builders. 🙂
I have to say that hornet has quite the lovely pattern on its face. 😉
I am with you – spooky critters scare me too. But this was interesting to see and read through a computer screen 😉
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Love the textures! Brave of you to get that close! I keep well away from wasps nests 🙂
Scarey inhabitants but wonderful abode! As always, love your photo and haiku.
You were very brave! Super nest, a work of art.
You did a nice job with this photo. Yay! You were brave to get close. After having been stung by wasps or hornets twice, I am quite wary of being around those things. 🙂
beautiful photo and haiku , Fergie
I just ignore the spooky creatures and look at your photo, you are a brave one !
groetjes, Francina
Thrilling and exciting!
Pingback: Nature Notes (#183)~ A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long. ~e.e. cummings « ~RAMBLING WOODS~