wasp

a kind of insect – stringing – winged – small with exoskeleton (= hard outer covering), body in three parts – head, thorax and abdomen, 3 pairs of legs (6 legs), 2 pairs of wings (4 wings), a pair of antenna on the head, two compound eyes with several simple eyes, slender body with a narrow waist and delicate legs, smooth-skinned (little hair on the body), and shiny; size: 1/16 of an inch to 2 inches long (female larger than male or worker); feeds on (eats/drinks) larvae – caterpillars and eggs of other insects, and adults – nectar from the flowers, ripe fruit and (some species) on carrion (= dead bodies of animals); lives for – males soon after mating, females and *workers for 1 year; about 2,000 species (?); found all over the world, except in the very cold parts {* Some authorities say the worker wasp lives for only 15-25 days!}

male ~~ drone

female ~~ queen/worker

baby ~~ larva

group ~~ nest, knot, bike, colony, pail; swarm (in the air)

voice (call) ~~ —  {‘buzz’ – not vocal sound, but the sound of wing beat while flying}

There are two types of wasps: social wasps and solitary wasps.

Social wasps –

live in groups, build nest; the species that include are: hornets, yellow jackets, paper wasps.

Solitary wasps –

live individually, build small nests; the species that include are: mud dauber wasps, potter wasps, digger wasps.

Special Features:

The ‘tarantula hawk wasp’ is the state insect of New Mexico, USA.

The wasps are an important pest control.  Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that is a predator upon it, i.e. the female wasp lays eggs on or in the bodies of the caterpillars which are made helpless by the poisonous sting, and when the egg hatches, the larva feeds on the caterpillar!

wasp sting

Only the female wasp has a sting, and unlike the bees, a wasp can sting more than once because, unlike the bee’s sting which breaks off from the bee’s body once it is used, the wasp’s sting does not break off!

one kind of wasp nest

Different species of wasps build different types of nests.  The Paper wasps build ‘paper nests’ with chewed up wood mixed with their saliva; the mud dauber wasps and the potter wasps build nests with small pellets of mud softened by their saliva; and digger wasps make holes in the ground or in the rotten wood!

Honey bee or Wasp? >>>

Figures of speech:

1.

wasp (noun)  =

(a)  {an acronym — (= a word formed from the first letters of each of the words in a long name with several words)} a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant – a group of Christians very dominant in North America

(b)  {an acronym – during the World War II} a member of Women’s Air-force Service Pilot of America

(c)  {usually written W.A.S.P.} an American heavy metal musical band – with several full forms = ‘We Are Sexual Perverts’; ‘We Are So Powerful’; ‘We Are So Perfect’; ‘We Are Satan’s People’; or ‘We Aren’t Sure, Pal’

2.

wasp-waist [said of a woman having a thin waist, perhaps too thin]

3.

waspish [said of a very thin person, thin like a wasp, or very quarrelsome, like a wasp]

4.

like a wasp in a bottle [said of someone who is in a bad-temper, or in uncontrollable frustration]

5.

troublesome as a wasp in one’s ear

6.

as quiet as a wasp in one’s ear [said ironically (in the negative sense) to mean very noisy]

7.

as sleepy as an October wasp (from the fact that wasps go into hibernation in winter)

8.

like a wasp on sugar  =  to eager to have or to get something

9.

hot as if he had a bellyful of wasps and salamanders [said of someone who is very uncomfortable or nervous]

10.

to stir a wasp’s nest  =  to cause trouble to oneself

11.

to agree like a wasp with a bee [used ironically (in the negative sense) implying disagreement]

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