I found an embryo nest of the yellowvented hornet (Vespa analis insularis, family Vespidae) hanging under the eaves of a hut in earlyJune 2023 in Japan. It looked like a vase upsidedown. The embryo nest of V. analis had a typical long tubular entrance to prevent enemies from intruding. I visited there three times from midJune to lateJune to monitor the development of the embryo nest in the rainy season without seeing a founding queen. Meanwhile, growing vines and leaves of porcelain berry (Ampelopsis glandulosa var. heterophylla, family Vitaceae) had reached the eaves around the hornet’s nest.

Now in earlyJuly, the first worker had finally emerged from the nest. The tubular entrance of the embryo nest is known to be demolished soon after the emergence of the first worker. And she came flying back to the nest carrying a black pellet in her jaws (@0:39).

Interestingly, she entered through the narrow tube of halfbroken entrance rather than the newlymade large entrance at the bottom of the spherical envelope. The moment of homing was replayed at 5x slowmotion (@1:00). I cannot tell whether she came home with a pellet of fresh pulp to expand the nest or a pellet of butchered prey to feed the larvae in the hexagonal cells. Captured in the latemorning (around 10:50 AM) of earlyJuly 2023 in Japan.

For a full story (text in Japanese);
https://sigmanaturevlog.blogspot.co...