More Muddy Wasps | Backyard and Beyond

More Muddy Wasps

Published July 7, 2022 Uncategorized 1 Comment

Back in December I noticed this mud clump in the corner of one of the few bathrooms in Green-Wood. I assumed it was a Yellow-legged Mud-auber nest. That’s right, it’s inside: there’s a permanently open window, which is how the mother wasp got in and out last summer. On Saturday I noticed it had a hole in it.

And that the bathroom was full of wasps. Well, three of them, anyway. Turns out there were Common Blue Mud-dauber Wasp (Chalybion californicum). One got out the window while I watched, but I left the door open for the others. On Sunday, the door was still open, and there was one wasp inside.

And another hole. To recap, the mother wasp builds a nest of individual mud compartments stocked with paralyzed spiders for her young. Wasp larva hatches out to a full larder of live food. Eats, grows, pupates, and then emerges the following summer.

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1 Back to The Mud | Backyard and Beyond Trackback on July 29, 2022 at 7:00 am

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