Tessa Farmer : Nymphidia

20 May-26 Jun 2011

Overview

Protruding from the wall is a wasps' nest built into the end of a cow horn. The walls of this nest are not only constructed from paper (made by the wasps) but from animal bones (including a rat skeleton and a bird skeleton), the skin of a mouse, desiccated toads, tarantula skins, butterfly wings and spider webs. We do not know if the nest abandoned, or if the fairies invaded it? Different queens of social wasps sometimes invade the nest of another, and continue to build it in their own style, so the nest becomes an amalgamation of architectural styles. Perhaps the fairies were inquilines (squatters) in the nest and took it over from within. Whatever happened, the nest is now inhabited and controlled by the fairies, although there are still wasps present. They are confined to their cells, guarded by fairies with hedgehog spine spears and soldier ants (which have large powerful jaws).