Throwing Pots

Wasps are fascinating. I love to watch them at work building their nests, whether they be paper or mud or a hole in the ground. Unfortunately, I don't always get to see the building part. Case in point, the mud pots below. I found them as they are, fastened to a small tree in the parking lot at work. The top pot is complete and sealed up, probably with a few small, smooth-skinned caterpillars inside - along with an egg. The lower pot will probably be full soon and capped. If the female is successful, then her offspring will emerge in the course of time. But, there is always the chance that another species will emerge instead -- the world is full of parasites and squatters ;)

Pots of a potter wasp, perhaps in the genus Eumenes