What stark contrast exists between the diet required by adult wasps versus their developing larvae?

Adult wasps primarily consume sugars from nectar, fruit, or honeydew, whereas the larvae require a completely different, protein-rich diet supplied by hunted insects.

There is a profound dietary division of labor driven by the nutritional needs of different life stages in wasps. Adult wasps, needing immediate energy for flight and foraging, sustain themselves primarily on carbohydrates found in sugary substances like nectar, ripe fruits, or the honeydew excreted by aphids. However, the developing larvae require substantial building blocks for rapid growth, necessitating a protein-rich diet. To meet this demand, workers act as hunters, capturing soft-bodied insects like caterpillars and flies, chewing them down into a protein paste that is then fed directly to the brood within the nest.