Navigation via landmarks by insects.
With the mild winter we had here on the Front Range of Colorado, lots of wasp queens have been able to overwinter. So they are our in force now, setting up new nests. I've counted three on the upper eves of my condo, and one on my front porch. The upper ones are not a problem. I enjoy watching the workers hunt in the trees, and they do help to keep the other insect populations in check. But by the front door is just not gonna fly (no pun intented). I waited until the lone wasp had left her nascent hive, then struck it down with a broom. A few moments later, the wasp returned to find an empty corner where her nest used to be. Not finding it, she backed off about 20 inches, re-oriented herself to the outer corner of the roof, and flew back to where the nest should be. Still not there. This was repeated five or six times as I watched, with the 2nd attempts going further out (30 inches or so) and retracing her route back to where the nest should be.
Even though it was a small nest, with only seven cells and none of them sealed over with pupae, I still felt a twinge of remorse since I know how much work goes into each cell of a nest. But she was a large, healthy female, and its still early in the season. Lots of prime nesting sites still available, and food (other insects) is abundant.
I just hope she (or her sisters), don't pick the flue of my fireplace to nest in. Again. That leads to wasps in the house, which also will not fly. Or chose to nest in the AC on the patio. That also will mean a call to the exterminator, and the killing of all the other nests around my home.
I wonder if anybody makes prefabed wasp shelters, like they do for birds and bats.....
On Edit:
I don't feel so bad now. Further research shows that the wasps in the area are
Polistes dominulus, an import from Europe, not
Polistes fuscatus, the common paper wasp native to N. America.
