THIS article was prepared due to special request from tour guides from Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara.
Meanwhile some years ago when I paid a visit to my late mother in Marangu I saw unfamiliar event which involved three wasps.
It was at the end of July when different species of plants in the area were flowering, I remember the temperature was very low, that forced me to seat where I could be exposed to some sunrays.
As I was enjoying my time on a zebra rock I saw something very interesting, three wasps were digging holes on the ground but sometime they would embark on air for a fight.
That happened when one of them stopped the work and tries to venture into another insect’s zone, to protect its interest the owner would react instantly.
A wasp is an insect that is neither a bee nor an ant, this means that a wasp has copied some of its features from an ancestor of the two insects.
History shows wasps evolved more than 175 million years ago, that was the time when volcanic activities developed faults on Pangaea supercontinent which enabled the formation of Gondwana supercontinent.
The ancient Gondwana supercontinent consisted of what today is Argentina, Australia, and Seychelles, Madagascar, horn of Africa, Tanzania, Congo and part of South Africa.
Paleontologists say Gondwana supercontinent existed when the world was on average considerably warmer than it is today.
This characteristics enabled Gondwana supercontinent to host a huge variety of flora and fauna for many millions of years.
These included some ancient vegetation which supported life of different animals including ancestors of the modern wasps of the savannah in Africa.
That was one of few animals which came alive out of the mass extinction which consumed more than 75 per cent of all living creatures on the planet.
Since then, wasps are successful and diverse groups of insects with tens of thousands of described species who have spread to all parts of the world except for the polar regions.
Wasps are characterised by a hard exoskeleton which is smooth and usually hairless, they have two large compound eyes and three or more simple light sensing eyes.
Scientists say the eyes of wasps are typically arranged in a triangle on top of the head, their excellent eyesight allows them to easily track predators while protecting their nests.
Adult wasps kill prey to feed their young, they don’t actually eat this prey themselves. Instead they feed on sugary substances such as nectar, but this nectar is never converted into honey and it isn’t stored.
Unlike African honeybee of savannah, wasps simply consume the nectar which is full of nutritious materials which give the insect energy.
Most wasps do not practice the common methods which allow them to feed the larvae in a manner similar to honeybees.
Some collect nectar and other plant materials often pollen and once this material passes through a portion of the adult’s gut, the adult regurgitates this honey-like substance for the larvae to eat.
Scientists say some species make nests with the size of a bushel basket where many layers of papery comb are kept inside.
These structures are very unique because they include some cells to store food, this is an exceptional honey. This type of honey has very pleasant aroma of maple syrup.
In the wasps with larger nests and larger colonies, surplus honey is made, very much like with bees, but in lesser amounts.
Most species of wasps are carnivores who kill and eat other insects, so they mostly just eat other insects.
Females have a stinger, which is actually a modified egg-laying device, after mating, a new queen flies off to start a new colony typically in a tree, a shrub, or under a building eave.
She finds dead wood such as bark then chews and mixes it with saliva to form paper like pulp then she attaches pulp to the nest site and forms a hanging stalk.
Zoologists say to the stalk she builds an umbrella like nest that contains six sided cells then she captures a caterpillar, chews it, stuffs it into a cell, and lays an egg on it.
Some wasps are serious predators and their larvae feed on disabled prey that the female wasp has stuffed into or alongside the larvaes’ cells.
Other tiny parasitic wasps deposit their eggs in the nest cells of other, larger wasps and when those tiny eggs hatch, the parasitic larvae feed on the larger host wasp’s larvae.
Wasps have four life cycle stage consisting of an egg, larvae, pupa and a full adult insect.
Scientists say regardless of a specie, an egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilised egg cell or a zygote.
This is then incubated to for an embryo which becomes a foetus which will hatch into an individual.
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults.
The larvae of wasps resemble maggots, and are adapted for life in a protected environment, this may be the body of a host organism or a cell in a nest.
Animals with indirect development such as insects typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. A wasp in the larval stage will consume food to fuel its transition into a pupal form.
A pupa is a life stage of some insects which happens during transformation between immature and mature stages, during this stage an insect goes through a pupal stage and
goes through four distinct changes which are controlled by powerful hormones.
The pupal stage follows the larval stage and precedes adulthood which is found among insects with complete metamorphosis.
Scientists say it is during the pupal stage that the adult structures of the insect are formed while the larval structures are broken down.
Among different species of insect, the pupal stage may last weeks, months, or even years, depending on temperature and the species of an individual.
In some species the pupa may enter dormancy or diapause until the appropriate season to emerge as an adult insect. In temperate climates pupae usually stay dormant during winter, while in the tropics pupae usually do so during the dry season.
Pupae are usually immobile and are largely defenseless. To overcome this, pupae often are covered with a cocoon, conceal themselves in the environment, or form underground.
Scientists say insects emerge from pupae by splitting the pupal case, most butterflies emerge in the morning.
In mosquitoes, the emergence is in the evening or night. In other species, the process is triggered by vibrations that indicate the possible presence of a suitable host.
The wasps which I saw in Marangu are solitary and the life style is found among more species of these insects from different parts of the world including Africa.
Immediately after mating, the adult female forages alone and if it builds a nest, does so for the benefit of its own offspring.
Some solitary wasps nest in small groups alongside others of their species, but each is involved in caring for its own offspring.
There are some species of solitary wasp that build communal nests, but when this happens each insect will have its own cell where it will provide food for its own offspring.
Scientists say most wasps do not adopt the division of labour and the complex behavioural patterns adopted by social insects such as African honeybee.
Adult solitary wasps spend most of their time in preparing their nests and foraging for food for their young.
Their nesting habits are more diverse than those of social wasps, just like what I saw in Marangu, many species dig burrows in the ground.
These are predatory wasp species which normally subdue their prey by stinging it, and then carry it back to their nest where an egg may be laid on the prey item and the nest sealed.
Scientists say while in the burrow after some days, the larvae hatch from the eggs and feed on the caterpillars before digging its way out.
Scientists say through what is called kin recognition mechanism, females of the solitary wasp avoid mating with their brothers.
Through different scientific researches it has been clearly indicated that a chance of female to mate with an unrelated male was about twice as high as the chance of her mating with brothers.
Female wasps appear to recognise siblings on the basis of a chemical signature carried or emitted by males.
Through this culture which was established from thousands years ago, this means that females are unusually closely related to their sisters.
Males or drones develop from an unfertilised egg because wasps store sperm inside their body and control its release for each individual egg as it is laid.
This means if a female wishes to produce a male egg, she simply lays the egg without fertilising it. Therefore, under most conditions in most species, wasps have complete voluntary control over the sex of their offspring.
Like all insects, wasps have a hard exoskeleton which protects their three main body parts, a narrow waist joining the first and second segments of the abdomen.
Wasps have two pairs of membranous wings which are held together by small hooks and the forewings are larger than the hind ones.
In females there is usually a rigid ovipositor which may be modified for injecting venom, piercing or slicing.
The sting either extends freely or can be retracted, and may be developed into a stinger for both defence and for paralysing prey.
Adult solitary wasps mainly feed on nectar, but the majority of their time is taken up by foraging for food for their carnivorous young, mostly insects or spiders.
Some social wasps are omnivorous, feeding on fallen fruit, nectar, and carrion such as dead insects. Adult male wasps sometimes visit flowers to obtain nectar.
Scientists say vast majority of wasps play no role in pollination, a few species can effectively transport pollen and pollinate several plant species.
This happens because wasps generally do not have a fur like covering of soft hairs and a special body part for pollen storage as some bees do.
However it has been shown that even without hairs, several wasp species are able to effectively transport pollen, therefore contributing for potential pollination of several plant species.
Some wasps build a strong society with a queen and all founders are full egg-layers, as are any daughters which can mate with males and then join the nest working and laying alongside their mothers.
Different studies show when the original founders disappear the remaining females fight for dominance, leading to a reduction in breeding success.
Almost half of the surviving nests are then abandoned and the average colony lasts about seven months.
In a small minority of nests, some females remained on the nest and began a new colonial cycle illustrating semi-independence between colony and nesting cycles, the maximum number of successive cycles to be completed in the same nest was four.
Scientists say just like honeybees, among social wasps, reproduction is reserved to one individual and the workers are divided into foragers, builders and guards. The foragers are females that spend the majority of their time foraging to supply the nest with prey and water.
Builders are individuals that will bring wood pulp to the nest and then use it to repair or expand the nest.
Guards are those females that spend most of their time being inactive on the nest to defend it and its contents from threats
Wasps are armed with a sting which some people say is one of nature’s cruelest weapons, this is due to the fact that stinger is a sharp spike that gets jabbed into your flesh.
Scientists say depending on the definition, the telson or sting is either considered to be the final segment of the arthropod body, or an additional division that is not a true segment on account of not arising in the embryo stage.
Most insect stings cause only minor discomfort. Stings can happen anywhere on the body and can be painful and frightening.
Unlike bees, wasps can sting multiple times because they don’t lose their stinger with their sting. They will also inject a venom into your skin with their sting.
From different parts of the world people say a sting is also a chemical weapon, shooting a dose of toxins directly into your bloodstream.
The following are the most common symptoms which may include pain, swelling, redness, itching, warmth and rashes.
Serious symptoms that indicate the possibly of a life-threatening allergic reaction, include coughing, tickling in the throat, tightness in the throat or breathing problems or wheezing, nausea or vomiting, dizziness or fainting, sweating, anxiety and rashes over a large part of the body.
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