So I did a thing, then wished I hadn't. There was a wasp nest over one of our automatic garage door entrances. I happened to be walking past and noticed that the nest was empty. So I popped it off! Not a good place for a nest, I'd been thinking lately. The nest landed on the concrete driveway. I leaned over and picked it up. Upon closer examination, I saw little larva heads (those black things in the hexagon spaces). Babies. Oh, dear. Bad me.
When mama came back, she looked and looked for her nest. Meanwhile, I'd put it in a yogurt container. Somehow I managed to get her in it, and she immediately went to feed her brood. She is a Guinea paper wasp (Polistes exclamans). For more info on wasps, check out a short article I wrote for Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine on the fine-backed red paper wasp.
Yes, I interfered, and I doubt she'll be able to establish a nest colony in the container. But I guess we'll see what happens.
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