Black and yellow mud dauber

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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Black and yellow mud dauber | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Arthropoda | classis = Insecta | ordo = Hymenoptera | familia = Sphecidae | genus = Sceliphron | species = S. caementarium | binomial = Sceliphron caementarium | binomial_authority = Drury, 1773 }}

For information on other species of mud dauber see, mud dauber

The black and yellow mud dauber (Sceliphron caementarium) is a type of wasp, and like most wasps is not particularly hostile (despite the common misconception, only social wasps - especially yellowjackets - tend towards aggressive). They are solitary insects that build small nests out of mud in or around homes, barns, and other structures.

The black and yellow mud dauber's nest is comprised of a series of cylindrical cells that are plastered over to form a smooth nest about the size of a human fist. After building a nest, the female wasp captures several spiders or insects. The captured prey are stung and paralyzed before being placed in the nest, and then a single egg is deposited on the prey within each cell. The wasp then seals the cell with mud. After finishing a series of cells, she leaves and does not return. Eventually, the hatching larvae will eat the prey and emerge from the nest.

Mud daubers very rarely, if ever, sting people or animals. Even when thoroughly agitated or aroused, they are not likely to sting. Because of their calm tempers and ability to control the insect and spider population, many people respect them. In many rural areas of the southern United States, killing a mud dauber without reason is considered cruel and silly.

References

• Floira Nature, Organ Pipe Mud Dauber
• Kulzer, L. The Black & Yellow Mud Dauber, 1996