Today I was sat outside at a restaurant in PA, USA and watched as a wasp landed on a plate, went for a large piece of chicken, then spent a minute or so carefully biting out a fairly large piece (about half the size of the wasp itself). It then grasped the piece of chicken it had cut out with its legs and flew off. This scene was repeated three times before we left the restaurant (not sure if it was the same wasp) -- each time it ignored other items on the plate (nachos grande including beans, vegetables, nachos, rice, etc.) and went straight for the chicken.
I have a few questions!
What's the usual diet for a wasp and is it usual for them to eat chicken (and even choose it preferentially over other foods like nachos, beans, vegetables, etc.)?
Where did the wasp go with that big piece of chicken? To a quiet spot to eat it alone like a bird or squirrel might do, or to take it back to a hive to share?
Finally, how do wasps eat? I remember learning that flies regurgitate digestive enzymes onto food then suck up the mush, but it looked like the wasp had poweful mandibles that made easy work of cutting the chicken.
What do wasps usually use those jaws for? i.e. they presumably didn't evolve them to cut chicken into fly-away sized pieces?
Thanks!