They affix these mud nests in areas that are kept dry.
This photo comes from the Bangor City Forest in Maine. This easily accessible 600+ acre wildlife habitat is open to the public year-round. If you enjoy hiking, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing, there are nine miles of trails to explore.
This wild wasp has an interesting name. It is obvious how it got the black and yellow descriptors, but what is a mud dauber? A dauber is an unskilled ignorant painter. These wasps are known for building their nests out of mud. To create these nests the wasp will go to mud puddles and create mud balls. It then hollows out each mud ball to create a cell. The cells are assembled and held together by more mud. They affix these mud nests in areas that are kept dry.
In the fall, the female black and yellow mud dauber will lay one egg in each cell. In addition, she will provide spiders she has captured to each of these cells. When the wasp egg hatches, it will consume the paralyzed spiders within its cell. As winter approaches, the larval wasp creates a cocoon it will reside in for winter. Once winter ends, the wasp will break through its cocoon and proceed with life as an adult black and yellow mud dauber.
One problem with this lifecycle, is that the wasps are vulnerable to predation during their nesting phase, since all the wasps are in one place. The mud daubers do have predators of their own, including other wasps, that will attack their mud nests and loot all their resources.
Check out this zoomed-in image of a black and yellow mud dauber. They have an amazing body design. Their arms and legs are yellow. If you look closely, the antennae are black and yellow.
If you look closely, the antennae are black and yellow.
Did you know?
- Black and yellow mud daubers prey on crab spiders. Here is a photo of a crab spider, also from Bangor City Forest.
- Only female mud daubers can sting. However, they rarely sting humans and are not considered aggressive wasps.
- The San Francisco garter snake is endangered and can only be found in San Mateo County, California.
- Mud daubers prey on black widow spiders!
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