The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

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  • Monthly Science: Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasp Nest Disassembly

    The empty Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasp nest popped off the wall with relatively little damage:

    Organ Pipe Wasp Nest - overview
    Organ Pipe Wasp Nest – overview

    The open cells on the back side show the wasps don’t waste any effort on putting mud where it’s not needed:

    Organ Pipe Wasp Nest - wall side
    Organ Pipe Wasp Nest – wall side

    Cracking it in half shows the rugged walls between the cell columns:

    Organ Pipe Wasp Nest - cross section
    Organ Pipe Wasp Nest – cross section

    Several cells contained three or four (thoroughly dead!) spiders apiece, evidently the result of un-hatched eggs:

    Organ Pipe Wasp Nest - failed egg - spiders
    Organ Pipe Wasp Nest – failed egg – spiders

    Each successful cell contained a brittle capsule wrapped in a thin cocoon, surrounded by fragments of what used to be spiders, with an exit hole chewed in the side:

    Organ Pipe Wasp Nest - capsule detail
    Organ Pipe Wasp Nest – capsule detail

    I regret not weighing the whole affair, as all that mud represents an astonishing amount of heavy hauling and careful work by one or two little wasps!