In 2010, unprecedented monsoons brought down massive rainfall leading to flooding in Pakistan. The water was slow to recede and it created vast pools of stagnant water across the countryside.
During this time, the flood drove millions of spiders and other insects into the trees that were above the water level of the flood. This led the spiders to spin their webs, possibly combined with other insects, covering the trees with ghostly cocoons.
Although the cocoons led to the death of many trees as they were blocking sunlight from reaching the leaves, they also seemed to help trap more mosquitoes in the region, thereby reducing the risk of malaria.(source)
7 Weaver Bird Nests
The nesting colonies of weaver birds may contain up to 300 chambers (one per pair) and span up to 25 feet in width and five feet in height.
Weaver birds are known for their intricately woven nests. The males build the homes to attract females. Depending on the type of bird and the available building materials, nests may be constructed with plant fibers or twigs. Once they assemble the building materials, they start weaving. The ideal design has a long tube that connects to a chamber which probably serves as the nursery.
Once the nest is completed, the males declare an “open house” by fluttering their wings. If a female likes what she sees, eggs appear on the nests in just a few days.
Although the majority of the species build individual love nests, there are others who weave aggregate nests in communities with hundreds of other weaver bird pairs.(1,2)
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8 Beaver Dams
Beavers build dams as protection against predators. The world’s biggest beaver dam, at 2,790 feet long, is around twice the length of the Hoover Dam and is visible from space.
Beavers are known as the engineers of the rodent world. They use the branches of trees to dam streams. The dam then creates a pond in the middle upon which the beaver family then constructs an island. The dams act as a shield of protection against vicious predators like bears, coyotes, and wolves. It also helps them to have easy access to food during the winters.
The dams typically range in length from a few feet to about 1,500 feet. But there is a dam that has surprised biologists because of its length. Located in Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada, this dam measures 2,790 feet in length. As per photos released by NASA World Wind, the dam did not exist in 1975 but can be seen in subsequent images.(1,2)
9 Mud Dauber Prisons
Mud Dauber wasps design their nests from mud in the form of prisons where they capture spiders for consumption.
The mud daubers build nests in the shape of cylindrical tubes. Some resemble an urn. They then stock their nests with spiders which serve as food for their children. Instead of stocking a nest cell with one or two large spiders, they cram around two dozen small spiders into it.
To capture a prey like a spider, the wasp stings it. The poison from the sting only paralyzes the spider and doesn’t kill it. They then preserve and store their prey in the nest cell. Next, they lay their eggs on the paralyzed spiders inside the nest cell and seal the nests with a mud cap. The larva survives on these paralyzed spiders and also spend the winters inside the nests.(source)
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10 Flower Sandwiches
These are floral contraptions created by the rare Osmia avosetta bees. Made into a three-tiered chamber, the outside consists of a thin layer of petals, a layer of mud, and an additional layer of petals.
Image Source: Photo taken by J G Rozen from the American Museum of Natural History
The picture above depicts the nest of a rare species of a solitary bee named the Osmia avosetta. The nests are three-tiered, with mud sandwiched between thin layers of petals. At the core of the sandwich, the bee’s larva is located. The larva survives on the nectar and pollen that is deposited inside the chamber by its parent. All this happens before the egg is laid. Lastly, they seal the nest for the egg to develop.
Each structure has room for just one larva. These structures were discovered on the same day by two teams in Turkey and Iran. They further noticed regional variations between the nests. Bees in Turkey tend to pick yellow, pink, blue, and purple petals, while Iranian bees make their nests with just purple flowers.
These structures look like unique works of art.(1,2)
