Average Jane’s Insect Farm

Thanks to an ill-fitting storm window, we have a fascinating situation developing right outside our living room. A group of wasps is busily building a nest in the upper right corner of one of our living room windows. There’s a spider with a dense web in the lower right corner of the same window.

You’d think that the spider would be all set for a wasp smorgasbord, but I’ve observed that the wasps are strong enough to escape if they become caught in the web. They’ve learned to traverse the grooves along the window frame and avoid the web on their way in and out.

The spider seems to have no shortage of victims, though.

My husband and I are finding the whole thing so interesting that we hesitate to exterminate our little visitors. It’s like having a four-foot tall, two-species ant farm.

For now, we’ll leave the wasps and spider as an exhibit. Once we can afford new storm windows, though, all bets are off.