15 Facts About Mud Dauber Wasp

Most of the mud daubers are calm and mind their own business. Although they sting their prey, spiders, to make them paralyzed and store them in their mud nest, mud daubers aren't aggressive and do not intend to sting intentionally.

They do not swarm and they are very unlikely to encounter in the packed groups. If left unnoticed or ignored, they do their natural work of reproduction, hunting spiders, and building and defending their nest.

Are mud daubers dangerous?

Mud daubers are a naturally mild nuisance to humans. They are not aggressive nor perform any kind of agitated activity except making some sort of buzzing sound while their nest-building work.

They are likely to sting other creatures apart from their favorite prey, spiders, only in the threatened cases when they feel unsafe or provoked. Even if you got stung, they are less likely to harm you since their venom is only used to paralyze the spiders not to kill them.

The case could be exceptional if you are allergic to wasps and bees, and if you encounter such an incident you might want to call for help or visit the hospital as soon as possible.

Mud dauber, just like the name builds its nest from the mud which is more cylindrical about the size of a cigar. They have different varieties and in many cases, just a pile of mud might also be seen.

You will most probably find the nest of this wasp in shaded areas such as wood piles, under a porch, or in abandoned machinery and equipment. These days it has also been found in a top corner where the roof and wall of the house meet, known as eaves.

Mud daubers belong to a large family consisting of different species. Many people often get confused between mud daubers and potter wasps since they both make mud structures as their nests.

The nest structure of potter wasps is different from that of mud daubers which are more cylindrical or just a pile while in the case of the former, very small pot or vase-shaped are often visible under the table or on the walls outside.

Like wasps, they are not socially active and do not intend to care for the family for a prolonged period. Female daubers are responsible for building the nest usually for their offspring selecting the perfect location such as vertical or horizontal faces of walls, cliffs, bridges, overhangs, and shelter caves or other structures.

After laying only one larva, the female dauber will leave the nest handling it to the offspring and these offspring are now on their own looking after themselves. It has been found that for the whole full winter, they remain inside the nest.

Female mud dauber has always been observed as working to provide food and building a nest. Like them, male dauber also have some defined roles and responsibilities for their family as long as they are living together.

Male daubers are observed protecting the nest from any intruders. They reside in the area where the female is building the nest to protect both the larva and the nest fighting against other insects and keeping the nest area safe.

Mud daubers are the wasps that feed the spiders. Almost every variety of wasps is dependent upon the spiders along with flower nectar and honeydew. They have been playing a vital role in controlling the number of spiders from around the world.

They usually sting the spiders releasing venom that paralyzes the spiders. These spiders are then taken into their nest and stored acting as a primary source of food for themselves and their younger ones. It has been observed that for a single larva, 25 spiders are usually stored.

Once a female mud dauber has laid offspring on the nest, these larvae will develop over time. They will feed on the stored paralyzed spiders in their nest until they are fully developed and ready to come out of the mud nest.

The spiders are trapped inside the mud nest being paralyzed for some time until the larva emerges and starts to eat the spiders. This food is enriched with essential elements for them to grow into established adults.

Mud daubers are found to make some sort of weird noises while they are working on building their nest and digging the soil. They were studied on a very closed observation using advanced tools to measure the vibration.

It was found that they create a sort of hammer-drill effect while digging the soil controlling the vibration of their head by making a low humming sound using their wing muscles, known as buzzing. Similar to that is found during nest building as well.

Being a parasitoid itself, mud dauber is often the home to the parasitism activity.  It has been observed that wasps such as Cuckoos secretly sneak into the nest and lay off an egg or two.

These eggs will start to hatch eventually and feed on the food that has been trapped inside the nest by mud daubers. This trick is used by other wasps as well since they needn't go hunting and building nests for their offspring.

The excrement of worms acts as a pre-cleaned source of mud. It has been found that the mud daubers often visit the places where worms are likely to defecate in search of the materials that are useful for building their nest.

In general, mud daubers dig into the ground to extract fine soil particles after some hard work of removing stones, plants, and other debris for the intended use. The availability of pre-cleaned soil from the worm casts is very likely to save them their time.

Mud dauber is likely to live for around a year going through different life stages of egg, larvae, pupae, and adult. The life originates after the female mud dauber lays her eggs into the nest that has been built by herself.

A wide variety of spiders are the main source of food for the mud daubers which they feed very early in their life stage, usually after they emerge out from their egg. They are likely to remain inside their nest until fully developed into an adult.

Mud daubers are found to build different varieties of nests for themselves and their offspring. More specifically, female daubers are the ones to build their nest and keep their younger ones until their development.

More often nests are seen with multiple tubes or vase-like structures attached to the stems of plants that are made from the fine soil. These nests are more likely to have been established in round openings found in tools and furniture and closing the holes or cracks in stones or masonries.

Mud daubers favor the warm temperate climate. For the whole winter, they are found inside their nest completing 3/4 of their life stages from egg to adult after having been laid off by the female daubers feeding on the trapped spiders.

They are active during the warmer months of the summer, usually found on the ground along the soil after the rainfall. They need soil to build their nest, thus, can never be far away from the ground.

A mud dauber is a small insect usually growing between a half and an inch long. Female dauber is found to grow a bit larger than the male dauber making them distinguishable from their appearance.

It has a very thin waist resembling a thread along with six legs and two large eyes. They are found in a wide array of colors including black, brown, and blue with distinctive two antennae and long wings.

In the past, the nests of mud daubers have resulted in some shocking and deadly airplane accidents killing hundreds of innocent humans and incurring huge losses of both life and economy.

In 1996, a jet carrying 13 crew members and 176 passengers caught up in an accident resulting in the loss of all the lives. Upon investigation, it was later found that a mud dauber's cylindrical nest had blocked the pitot tube resulting in the accidents.

Similar to this, in 1980, a pitot tube of a commuter airlines flight was blocked by the nest of mud dauber leading to the plane crash and killing all 34 people on board.

Many people just ignore the nest of mud daubers simply because they are unaggressive and do not intend to harm humans unless disturbed or agitated. They can be considered a mild nuisance bearing some useful property of wiping down the spiders from your house.

However, the nest of mud daubers might attract other serious and threatening pests and insects since they are left empty after the adult daubers emerge out of them. It can be a good idea to remove them from your house following the below-mentioned guide:

• It is suggested to perform the act of removal during the night hours ensuring you're properly equipped with the right tools such as a paint scrapper, proper disposal, and gloves.
• Although mud daubers are calm and unaggressive, they can sting when they're handled roughly or agitated. If you are a wasp or bee allergic, it might make you sick with some painful experience.
• Some people have been reported of mild symptoms like pain, swelling, and itching while allergic reactions may vary from trouble breathing to nausea and dizziness from the venomous sting of mud daubers.
• Mud daubers are often found in warm climates thriving near water sources such as ponds or lakes where they get to feed on their favorite dishes such as mosquitoes, spiders, and other insects. You might want to keep your houses away from such places.
• If you want to go for an early preparation then you should first seal all the openings of your house such as crevices, unsealed cracks, and furniture holes to prevent the mud daubers from building their nests and harboring in those areas.
• The more insects and spiders in your yard or house, the more mud daubers are attracted to your place. For this, you need to keep your place clean and tidy free from unwanted insects to avoid mud dauber's nest.
• If you find it very unappealing to do it by yourself then it would be best not to get involved directly in this thing, rather call a pest control professional and let them do their job effectively.

Black and yellow mud dauber (Sceliphron caementarium)

It is commonly known as the yellow-legged mud dauber wasp that is seen building its nests just like the walls of houses, side by side or on top of one another, often referred to as, the builder of walls.

Having yellow and black coloration, they are widespread in Canada, the United States, Central America, and the West Indies. This type of mud dauber is popular for their skills in constructing earthen homes or nests for their offspring.

Pipe organ mud dauber (Trypoxylon politum)

It is a predatory wasp that makes vertical and parallel rows of cells while building its nest resembling a pipe organ. The females and males possess similar colors of shiny black with the end part being pale yellow to white.

They are widely found from Southeastern Canada to the Eastern United States and are often seen building their nests in the holes of trees or under bridges across the world.

Blue mud wasp (Chalybion californicum)

It is a metallic blue species of mud dauber wasp that ranges from northern Mexico to southern Canada, including most of the United States. It is often seen reusing the nests of other species avoiding building of its own although females have the skills to build the one.

Blue mud dauber, usually found carrying water to remodel the older nests, is most famous for preying on the black widow spiders often on the ground or under the rocks.