Have you ever seen mudding around your home and have panicked, wondering if it's termites?
The following pictures shoud help you distinguish the difference.
This cupboard had a mix of termite mud and wasps nests. Notice the shape and texture of the termite mud. The termite mud comes up from the ground, is grainy and forms a continuous sheter tube. The wasps nests are more homogenous in colour and texture, form small cylinders and are isolated.
This is a hornets nest on a wall, the distinct cocoons are clearly visible.
Termite mud tubes never have open sections, they are designed to keep the termites moist and isolated. You can see an open cocoon at the top. Also the pattern of the mudding is inconsistent with termite mudding.
These are often confused for termites. A birds nest on the left and some wasps nests on the right.