Fabric and Structure of Potter Wasp Nests
Fabric and Structure of Potter Wasp Nests
Potter wasps are one of the few insects capable of building durable mud nests on different sur-
faces. Potter wasp nests (n=101) were collected and categorized based on their shape and size.
Tests for understanding the physical properties such as grain size distribution, Atterberg limits,
specific gravity, organic content of the nest soil and control soil were performed in addition to esti-
mating the shear strength. The soil fabric/structure of the nest was acquired using X-ray computed
tomography for a typical ellipsoidal shaped nest which revealed varying wall thicknesses. This 3-
D structure was imported into the finite element software ABAQUS for stress analysis. The study
evaluates the influence of the nest orientation on the stability of nest and highlights the vulnerable
regions of high stress concentration. Insights from the composition, geometry and construction
techniques of potter wasp nests can inspire advancement in civil engineering, for light weight,
durable and efficient material design.
Shweta Mukundan; Bhupendra Chand; Shruti Pandey; Tejas G. Murthy; M. Renee Borges
2025 International Conference on Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (ICBBG2025)
General session: Bio-inspired methods for infrastructure construction
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICBBG2025-111
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