Chaffinches and robins have returned to the goshawk forest, and today I tried (and failed) to get the first decent photos of them this year. But then I saw something more interesting – a queen crawling on moss. It survived the winter, well done! Based on its appearance, I think this is a common wasp (vespula vulgaris).

I know wasps aren't popular insects, but I think they deserve to be in the limelight for once, at least here on Pixelfed. They are not my favorite insects either, but I find them interesting nonetheless: Their nests are impressive works of craftsmanship and I kinda like the way they look. Sure, they might sting, but I'm on my best behavior around them, so I haven't been stung in decades. But yeah, it is a bit unnerving when a wasp lands on your cheek just below your eye and decides to stay there...

#commonwasp
#vespulavulgaris
#waspqueen
#spring
#april
#helsinki
#finland

"We've got no wasp summer this year", according to unnamed members of NABU Thuringia. Maybe they still were busy moving all my local natterjack toads to a new spot 20 kilometers away so one of Mercedes' cheap permatemp factories can expand again, which NABU didn't protest at all nor ever mentioned that this endangered toad species is quite common in my sparse region.

NABU members certainly appear to not even know where wasps like Polistes dominula usually can be found during regular, Central European summers. Another, much smaller colony abandoned their idea to build a small nest right on some old burlap bags lying the ground in my yard (they saw some round, red plastic lying on top of those bags and began to build a comb inside the plastic, right next to the sleeping spot of one of my cats).

(NOTE: Kudos to @[email protected] for providing a more accurate identification! I'll no longer rely on the German Wikipedia for anything related to insects or STEM as this isn't the first time a page turns out to be horribly outdated and more misleading than helpful.)

#hymenoptera #insects #wasps #europeanpaperwasp #germany #canoneos700d

My most recent blog post, over on Blipfoto:
https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/3084972365436684335
#BritishWasps, #wasp #CommonWasp #VespulaVulgaris #nature #wildlife #macro #CanonR5