Alien-Wasp Swarms Devouring Birds, Bugs in Hawaii


	Alien-Wasp Swarms Devouring Birds, Bugs in Hawaii

tabsey

7-27-2009 9:46 AM

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tags:

nature

1 Comment |

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7-27-2009 11:03 AM

Kelika

They can be nasty and ill tempered.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/a063984f-ddaa-49db-bb66-9a90e16f5c79/C1996950-73C4-41F9-B950-9A1EF6F59AB0/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090723-wasps-nests-hawaii.html" href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090723-wasps-nests-hawaii.html" style="font-size: 11px;">news.nationalgeographic.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090723-wasps-nests-hawaii.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/news.nationalgeographic.com/img/21745374-B621-4D95-86DD-339C90C45A33" alt="western yellowjacket wasp picture" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090723-wasps-nests-hawaii.html">Attacking from nests as big as pickup-truck beds, invasive western yellowjacket wasps in <A href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/states/state_hawaii.html">Hawaii</A> are munching their way through an "astonishing diversity" of creatures, from caterpillars to pheasants</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090723-wasps-nests-hawaii.html">Adult yellowjackets consume only nectar. But they kill or scavenge prey to deliver needed protein to their growing broods</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090723-wasps-nests-hawaii.html">They basically just carry it in their mandibles—you see them flying with their balls of meat," said lead study author Erin Wilson</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090723-wasps-nests-hawaii.html">n their native habitat in the western U.S., the wasps die off in winter. But in Hawaii the wasps survive the winter, possibly due to mild year-round temperatures or subtle genetic changes</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090723-wasps-nests-hawaii.html">A longer life-span gives the <A href="http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs.html">insects</A> more time to build up their nests</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090723-wasps-nests-hawaii.html">So what would normally be a basketball-size nest can become, at the extreme, several feet long</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090723-wasps-nests-hawaii.html"><P>
The extra room allows a colony of 50,000 workers to explode to 500,000 or more. Larger colonies mean that the insects deplete more prey than in areas where the wasps die off in winter.
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