Nest of the organ pipe mud dauber, Trypoxylon politum
Nest of the organ pipe mud dauber, Trypoxylon politum
Mud dauber wasps are flying insects in the family Sphecidae of the order Hymenoptera (the group that includes all the bees, wasps and ants). Like other Hymenoptera, the females are capable of stinging, but the males cannot. Although they may buzz loudly at intruders, mud dauber wasps seldom attempt to sting.
Mud daubers are called solitary wasps because even though many nests are sometimes found side by side, each female makes her own nest. Although males in some species may help their mate, individual females do not cooperate with each other like social species such as honeybees or hornets do.
The black and yellow mud dauber, Sceliphron caementarium, and its nest
Mud daubers build their distinctive nests as a fortress to protect their immature offspring. Although they may buzz at intruders during construction, they do not actively defend the completed nests. Instead, they simply fly off to build another. Adult mud dauber wasps die off each year with the coming of autumn’s cold weather. Their place will be taken the next year by their offspring, which emerge from the nests in the warm days of early summer.
Biology teachers accustomed to using commercially purchased “owl pellets” to teach ecological concepts have found that mud dauber nests can be a novel and economical substitute. Across most of North America, mud dauber nests can be easily collected from under barn roofs, garages, bridges, and similar shelters during late fall, winter, and early spring. At this time, the nest inhabitants will be in an immature or resting stage and nests can be dissected. (Note: if winter-collected nests are not used promptly, they should be kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Otherwise, because bringing them into a warm house or classroom mimics natural springtime; the inhabitants will gradually resume their development to adulthood.)