The European paper wasps’ colorful nest features open combs with cells for raising their brood and is impressively durable thanks to their saliva, which makes the nest water-resistant, and other secretions that repel ants. Menchetti patiently watched over the wasps as they built their nest and provided different colored paper as the social insects steadily completed each row of combs. The wasps chewed the wood into a pulpy substance and used their saliva to bind the fibers.
Related: Waste from M&M’s Candy Causes Honey to Turn Green in France
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the effects of artificial dyes on insects. In 2012, beekeepers in Northeastern France were shocked to find their apiaries full of green and blue honey. As it was later discovered, the honeybees had collected blue and green debris from the waste of colorful M&M shells at the local biogas plant.
+ Mattia Menchetti
Via Colossal
Images via Mattia Menchetti
