Stenogaster
Tropical wasps recognize no season; they mature, build after their fashion, procreate and die in an endless, repetitious cycle without pause. Beyond that, the difference between them and the wasps of the temperate climate is merely a matter of detail —but often the detail is fascinating. Stenogaster, for example, which is at home in the forest shadows from Australia north to the Philippines, puts its vulnerable larvae for protection in a pencil-thin nest hung by a long thread. But even this would not effectively deter the ants, which climb everywhere, so Stenogaster produces an "ant guard" -a sticky, repellent substance with which it coats a portion of the thread by which the nest is hung. Despite this care, the nest is still frequently ravaged and the larvae carried off by another, more aggressive wasp, Vespa deusta, which finds Stenogaster a perfect source of food needed by its own larvae.
