‘Corkscrew’-shaped nest hanging outside Bukit Batok flat leaves Stomper puzzled
A Bukit Batok resident was left puzzled after spotting a strange spiral-shaped nest hanging outside his window.
Stomper Curious said he spotted the unusual “corkscrew”-shaped nest outside his window at around 3pm on Aug 15.
His flat is located above the 10th floor in Bukit Batok.
Curious said he was surprised by what he saw and tried using Google and other AI tools to identify it, but could not find an answer.
He subsequently shared a video with Stomp, hoping others could shed some light on the mystery.
The video shows what appears to be a spiral-shaped nest hanging just outside the window, with several insects crawling around it.
Curious said the insects looked like “giant ants”.
However, bee rescuer Eugene Goh, who has previously spoken to Stomp about his work with the Sundowner Bee Rescue, said the insects were not ants.
“Definitely wasps,” he told Stomp.
He said that depending on the scale of the nest — which cannot be clearly seen from Curious’ video — they could be paper wasps, which are common in Singapore.
According to the National Parks Board, paper wasps are medium-sized wasps that build their nests by gathering fibres from dead wood and plant stems.
After mixing the fibres with their saliva, the paper-like material is applied in layers onto surfaces to create a tough, water-resistant paper when dried.
The nests are attached to surfaces with a distinct stalk, and the combs are open and protected by a chemical secreted by the wasp that repels predators such as ants.
Paper wasps are generally non-aggressive, attacking only when they feel threatened.
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