A favor to ask from the Texans on the boards

[Cheshire]

If anyone sees a very small nest (less than 10) of these (http://bugguide.net/node/view/126172) guys, would you let me know so I can collect one the last night of acon?

I'm looking to get a nest of this species for my collection. I will happily harvest it myself, if I think I'll be able to safely do it.

Heck, I'd even settle for seeing a large nest in person.

Polistes annularis...I'm told from a reliable source that these are known to build some of the largest nests in this genus.

I fully realize I am partially insane ;)

[What]

Pretty wasps.

[_bob_]

those are all over the place.

[Skypainter]

Very very common.

My girlfriend and I were hiking at Enchanted Rock a few weeks ago. We decided to sit down on a horizontal growing oak tree trunk when we noticed these very angry looking wasps staring right at us from only two feet away.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r58/Skypainter75/June%202007%20Hikes/IMG_0599.jpg

We moved away very quickly!:D

[Cheshire]

If either of you could find me a colony and take me to it, I want to remove it and ship it home so I can keep it and observe it.

I could even do a demonstration on how to harvest a wasp nest, if the nest is small enough for me to harvest it safely.

[syndicate]

wouldnt it be highly illegal to ship those over state borders?:shame:

[What]

I doubt if it is. I dont think that predatory insects are regulated....

[MizM]

I fully realize I am partially insane ;)


Partially?;P

;)

[Drachenjager]

If anyone sees a very small nest (less than 10) of these (http://bugguide.net/node/view/126172) guys, would you let me know so I can collect one the last night of acon?

I'm looking to get a nest of this species for my collection. I will happily harvest it myself, if I think I'll be able to safely do it.

Heck, I'd even settle for seeing a large nest in person.

Polistes annularis...I'm told from a reliable source that these are known to build some of the largest nests in this genus.

I fully realize I am partially insane ;)

ummm dude those things hurt lol at least they do most people

[MizM]

So, did you get them?

If anyone sees a very small nest (less than 10) of these (http://bugguide.net/node/view/126172) guys, would you let me know so I can collect one the last night of acon?

I'm looking to get a nest of this species for my collection. I will happily harvest it myself, if I think I'll be able to safely do it.

Heck, I'd even settle for seeing a large nest in person.

Polistes annularis...I'm told from a reliable source that these are known to build some of the largest nests in this genus.

I fully realize I am partially insane ;)

[What]

He got a wasp nest, I dont think it was his target species though...

[Cheshire]

The species which I harvested was polistes apachus.

They didn't make it to my house alive due to the fact I shipped them incorrectly. I seperated the adults from the nest and I underestimated how quickly they dehydrate. In the wild, the grubs will feed the adults.

I'll be working on a correct shipping protocol, but I'll only be using foundresses I produce myself or nests that are about to be destroyed by homeowners. I'll only use overnight shipping, as well. They don't do well in a temporary care situation.

When I do get everything figured out, I'll post another detailed article on the subject. A friend and I are exchanging P. fuscatus males this fall to produce captive bred foundresses so I'm fairly confident I'll get this problem nailed.

The nest was also heavily parasitized, so I don't think I'll be harvesting any nests of that size again.

Thankfully, there are always foundresses looking for new nesting sites. The site where I harvested the nest I now keep in a 5 gallon tank in my bedroom already has another nest of the same species.

Since this is kind of a new area for invert keepers, I really don't like the fact that I failed this miserably but failures are a part of any sort of progress. I still have a lot of work to do on this front.