The potter wasp as its name suggests is best known for its ability to make beautiful pots or ‘vases’ from mud that it carefully crafts from nearby ‘quarries’ and water sources. After mating the female wasp will choose a nesting site upon a branch of gorse or heather within 120 metres of her quarry and then begins the process of adding water to the soil to enable her to roll balls of mud. She will then clasp these balls of mud between her jaws and forelegs and take them one at a time to her nest site. Here she will use them to construct her pot. It can take up to 25 balls of mud and around 2-3 hours of continuous work to complete the pot. Upon completion of the pot the wasp lays a single egg inside.
Location: Dorset Heathland
Photographer: B Williams