Investigating Physical and Mechanical Properties of Mud Dauber Nests

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Mud dauber wasps construct soil nests to protect their offspring from predators, extreme temperatures, and rainwater. During nest construction, mud daubers compact nest cell walls using repetitive tapping produced by front legs and mandibles and harden them by drying under atmospheric conditions. This study assessed the performance of mud daubers nest construction techniques (i.e., repetitive tapping and atmospheric drying) in improving the physical and mechanical properties of mud dauber nests. Dry densities of mud dauber nest samples were compared to those of Proctor compacted nest soil samples. The soil shrinkage curve, elastic modulus, suction stress characteristic curve (SSCC), and unconfined compressive strength of nest soil samples were measured by performing drying cake (DC) and unconfined compression tests. The test results showed a similar range of dry density between intact nest samples and compacted reconstitute nest soil samples. Additionally, the atmospheric drying increased Youngs modulus from 435 to 3554 kPa and the magnitudes of suction stress to 44 kPa. Investigation of mud daubers nest construction techniques could provide insights and inspiration to improve human manufacturing and manipulation of soils for earthen building construction.

2025 International Conference on Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (ICBBG2025)

General session: Bio-inspired methods for infrastructure construction