Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp

Here's a Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp (aka Black and Yellow Mud Dauber Wasp) that I met last summer. The females build nests from mud, laying eggs in them and leaving paralyzed spiders in their for their young to eat. Given this wasp was found in the mud, it's likely this is a female.

Though they can sting, they're not considered aggressive. Though they specialize in preying on spiders and spiders are generally considered to be good (helping to eliminate insect pests), these wasps are native species that help keep nature in balance. Spiders do eat pest insects, but they also eat pollinators like bees and hover flies, and having some checks on their numbers is probably a good thing.

August 18, 2020 at Duke Farms


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