THE INSECTLIBRARY FIELD GUIDES
Mud Dauber WaspIdentification, facts & practical guidance
Mud daubers are several groups of solitary wasps that build or use mud nests. The name spans more than one wasp family.
Compiled by the InsectLibrary Team · Updated · Editorial policy
Identification and lookalikes
Look at the nest as well as the wasp: some make tube-like cells, while others make clustered mud chambers. Body color and waist shape differ among groups. Paper nests belong to different wasps.
What is inside a mud nest?
Mud daubers commonly stock nest cells with spiders for their larvae. Adults may visit flowers. A nest with emergence holes may already be empty, so check activity before deciding what to do.
What to do next
Leave nests in unobtrusive places when practical. Avoid handling a wasp. If removal is necessary, determine whether a nest is active and get local advice for occupied nests near people.
Mud Dauber Wasp: species profiles
Explore 20 species profiles covered by this guide, with recorded names and available photos.
Black and Yellow Mud Dauber
Sceliphron caementarium
(c) Newt Knorpp, some rights reserved (CC BY)Common Blue Mud Dauber
Chalybion californicum
Pipe Organ Mud Dauber
Trypoxylon politum
Asian Mud-dauber Wasp
Sceliphron curvatum
Sceliphron madraspatanum
Sceliphron madraspatanum
Sceliphron spirifex
Sceliphron spirifex
Zimmermann's Mud-dauber Wasp
Chalybion zimmermanni
Clayman's Mud Dauber Wasp
Sceliphron assimile
Slender Wood Borer Wasp
Trypoxylon attenuatum
Trypoxylon californicum
Trypoxylon californicum
Trypoxylon carinatum
Trypoxylon carinatum
Trypoxylon clavatum
Trypoxylon clavatum
Sources and further reading
- mdc.mo.gov - mud daubershttps://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/mud-daubers
References support the subject discussed here; they do not certify every imported directory record. Regional sources describe their own locations. Read our source and correction policy.