Paper Wasp Nest

This afternoon I discovered a couple of Paper Wasps (Polistes dorsalis) building a nest under the roof of one of our outdoor lamps. Fortunately I was able to photograph them before my mom destroyed the nest (sad but necessary because the front porch is close by). I'm assuming these two wasps were the Queen and her trusted adviser...? Perhaps she recruited this other wasp to help her build the nest. Since only the queens overwinter, they live a solitary life until they can lay eggs and raise a new generation of workers in the spring.

You can see the large water droplet that's been hanging from the roof has finally fallen. The wasp on the left slurped up some of the water to use it to break down the cellulose in its mouth. Wasps also use their own saliva.

Then it applied the paper-mache substance to the nest.

Spitting out the excess water...

...and applying the paste.

Spitting out more water...

...and applying more paste.

Though the wasps continually monitored my presence, they seemed more interested in the construction.

Info on how the nests are constructed:
http://insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/qt/how-wasp-nests-are-made.htm
http://crawford.tardigrade.net/bugs/BugofMonth16.html
http://www.naturemagnified.com/2010/06/nest-building-in-paper-wasps.html
http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/departments/esps/factsheets/medvet/paper_wasps_mv13.html
http://insects.about.com/od/insectssociety/a/Control-Paper-Wasps.htm
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2284/