Student internship project:

Investigate Bald Faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) paper-making and social interactions.

Background

Fertilized female queens of this hornet that survive the winter are ready to build nests and lay eggs in the spring.  These wasps make football-sized paper nests with chewed wood.

Project Overview

Work with artist and scientist to design a study to:

Science: Learn about how these insects interact in the search for materials through building of their paper nests using colored as the building material.

Art: Create a method for creating wasp-built paper blending and using different human-made colored construction or other papers as raw materials

Timing

Spring, 2012 until nests are complete.

Methods

Literature search for social interactions of Dolichovespula maculate.  Research raising these wasps in captivity.  Capture and raise up to ten fertilized females in separate cages built for this purpose.  Track paper deposition and timing.  Perform other information gathering as dictated by the study design.

Products:

Multi-colored Paper wasp nests.  Paper with abstract, objectives, methods, & discussion.

CONTACT: Chris Maynard: chris1two@gmail.com