Oriental Honey-buzzard eating paper wasp larvae
Posted by BESG on 18 December 07, Tuesday
Contributed by Johnny Wee
In November 2007, Johnny Wee encountered an Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhyncus) at the Japanese Garden in Jurong eating what looked like a piece of honeycomb (left).
On closer examination of the images, the structure the buzzard is grasping looks like the small nest of the paper wasp (Polistes sp.) (below).
This is a social wasp that builds a small, inconspicuous nest often attached by a tough stalk to twigs or the under-surfaces of a roof or overhanging structure. On this stalk the wasp constructs her first hexagonal cell of papery material with the opening facing down. She then adds cells around this in concentric circles. Other females join in building the colony and together with a few males, form the small colony.
Once the cells are deep enough, the females lay their eggs and when they are hatched the developing larvae are fed pellets of chewed caterpillars. Once fully grown, the cells are capped with papery materials.
Honey Buzzards often attack large colonies of bees to get at the honeycombs for the honey as well as the larvae. This is a record of a buzzard taking a small nest of the paper wasp.
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Categories: Feeding-invertebrates, Raptors
Comment by irfanchoo
Made Wednesday, 19 of December , 2007 at 11:42 am
Hi Johnny,
very nice shots you have there!!
thanks for sharing.
regards,
irfan choo
