European paper wasps (Polistes dominula) standing on the surface of a swimming pool as they drink from it. The depressions caused by the wasps are deflecting the sunlight and creating the patterns beneath them. The wasp's bodies are covered in cuticular hydrocarbons, which are hydrophobic (water repellent), allowing the wasps to stand on the water. European paper wasps are social insects that mix fibres from dead wood and plant stems with saliva to produce a papery material with which they construct a water-resistant nest.

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Photo credit: © MARTYN F. CHILLMAID/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, animal, aveyron, biological, biology, chc, cuticular, dominula, drinking, entomological, entomology, europe, european, eusocial, fauna, france, french, hydrocarbon, hydrocarbons, hydrophobic, hymenoptera, insect, nature, paper, pattern, polistes, pool, repellent, shadow, social, standing, summer, surface, swimming, tension, vespidae, walking, wasp, wasps, water, wildlife, zoological, zoology