I Googled various descriptions of these and the closest hit was the potter wasp species who make tiny clay nests that resemble squat wine bottles from the 1700's.
These ain't those.
These remind me more of Greek amphorae jugs on an ancient shipwreck from the Mediterranean Sea.
I'm pretty sure that when our ancient ancestors began making clay pots, the inspiration came from someone looking at nests like these and saying,
"Heyyyyy, ... wait a minute ... what if ... yeah, I could do that ..."
Chime in if you know this species.
In other news, I tossed an entry into the latest Culinary Smackdown, "Battle Sandwich" competition.
It's a Bison sandwich and you can see it over here.
8 comments:
Hmmm, I'd say some kind of mud Dauber, maybe like this: [img]http://bp1.blogger.com/_lDfVXMCBuu0/SGzAwzTEVzI/AAAAAAAAAMA/HFUh7cF-xcA/s400/Mud%20dauber%20wasp-nest%20(2).jpg[/img]
Doug will know!
i was also thinking some kind of mud dauber wasp.
No idea, but I bet you're pretty close to the truth about the inpiration for making clay pots.
Definitely a potter wasp. There are 200 species in the world. No clue which this is, but they are all of the Eumenes genus. I see these often in my garden, both the wasps and the nests. Potter wasps are elegant and beautiful.
Thanks all!
Why don't you put it in a paper bag and see what comes out of those closed chambers?
Dan,
Wish I had thought of that.
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