Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Polistinae

This is a close-up of a picture I took back in March when our daffodils were in full bloom. This fellow was very sedate and hung out there for about 15 minutes. Here's the information I posted on the original picture: Paper Wasps are a big problem for us because they build massive nests under our eaves and it's difficult to move about on our steep roof to get rid of them. They build nests anywhere there's a protective roof, and we've found them inside squirrel baffles, behind deck chairs, inside our barbeque, under the hood of my car and even in the front crack of my car door! They have nasty tempers and unlike bees, wasps do not commit suicide when they use their stinger and can sting as many times as they feel like. I've been stung several times by a single wasp and thankfully they don't hurt too much, at least not as much as a hornet, OUCH! Even though I hate it when there are too many of them, I find these wasps to be extremely pretty and very fascinating! :) If you would like to know more about Paper Wasps, you can find a great source of information here: Wiki: Paper Wasp .

[best appreciated at full size against black] Our daffodils are in full bloom now and they're putting on quite a show! While taking pictures yesteday, I found a Paper Wasp on one of the blossoms and it allowed me to take its picture while it drank from a droplet of water! How cool is that?! :D Paper Wasps are a big problem for us because they build massive nests under our eaves and it's difficult to move about on our steep roof to get rid of them. They build nests anywhere there's a protective roof, and we've found them inside squirrel baffles, behind deck chairs, inside our barbeque, under the hood of my car and even in the front crack of my car door! They have nasty tempers and unlike bees, wasps do not commit suicide when they use their stinger and can sting as many times as they feel like. I've been stung several times by a single wasp and thankfully they don't hurt too much, at least not as much as a hornet, OUCH! Even though I hate it when there are too many of them, I find these wasps to be extremely pretty and very fascinating! :) If you would like to know more about Paper Wasps, you can find a great source of information here: Wiki: Paper Wasp . These images were taken in March, 2012.

While taking pictures of our daffodils a couple of weeks ago, I found a wasp on one blossom drinking from a water droplet. It basically ignored me, allowing for some great close-ups! This is one that came out nicely!

This was the first picture I took of this wasp, perching protectively on her newly built nest. She allowed me to approach to within 6" of her before she finally flew off while I took the rest of my pictures.

Finding tiny wasp eggs inside this new nest was a wonderful surprise, and I was able to get this picture to share! Hooray! :)

I had a whole set of apertures to choose from for this image, and decided that a little crispness at the front half was just right. As a macro photographer, I've learned that taking sets of many apertures of each subject helps to ensure that I'll get at least one, if not a handful, of nice choices to pick from and a higher probability that I'll get the desired depth of field.

What a beautiful, warm day it was today! I went out this afternoon to look for some neat images, and I didn't have to go far! I've been meaning to take a picture of a yellow wildflower that grows here, called Desert Parsley, and while I was getting various angles, I heard a loud buzzing. Hmm...bumble bee? I looked and saw something land nearby. Oh wow, I thought to myself as I spotted the insect...it was a paper wasp, and it was perched on a brand new nest attached to a dead star thistle stem. There was a time in my life when seeing this wasp would make me scream and run away. But I'm not afraid anymore and I knew that if I moved slowly, I'd be able to take lots of pictures and it would likely just fly away if it got nervous. And that's what happened! :) I got two really nice pictures of this female wasp, and when it moved away, I got lots of great pictures of its new nest, and then I discovered that some of the cells had eggs inside! Fantastic!