Newly-formed nest of the wasp Polistes gallicus hanging from the underside of a roof tile in southern France. Several fertile females collaborate on t

---

Newly-formed nest of the wasp Polistes gallicus hanging from the underside of a roof tile in southern France. Several fertile females collaborate on the initial building of the nest, all of them laying the small white eggs visible in some of the chambers. One of the females soon becomes dominant, however. She eats the eggs of the others and demotes them to assistant status: they become workers and lay no further eggs. After the first larval generation have reached adulthood, the accessory females will be driven off by the young queen.

---

Size: 5079px × 3508px
Photo credit: © CLAUDE NURIDSANY & MARIE PERENNOU/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, egg, gallicus, insect, insecta, invertebrate, invertebrates, nature, nest, polistes, wasp, wildlife, zoology