Take a look at the photograph above. Is it some strange kind of blooming plant? Is it a fungal growth attached to a tree? It is something else entirely. This is the bizarre nest of the Central American Paper Wasp (
Apoica pallens). It is notable for one thing – an apparent lack of nest altogether. Those pale yellow cigar-shaped objects? They are the wasps, huddled together in neat order, waiting for the evening to come.
Image Credit
The species is native to the lowlands of central and northern South America, so unless you live there you are not going to stumble across something like this in the forest – although whether that is a shame or a relief entirely depends on you. However, these wasps have developed a kind of night vision which means that they swarm and forage only after the sun goes down. Until then, they adopt this position under the comb face of their nest – and it is entirely defensive.