Mud
cocoons are constructed by Sceliphron wasps. Also called mud dauber wasps, they are long and slender insects, with a narrow thread like waist. Their color is blue or black, with yellow markings.
Only mother wasps construct nests. The nests are built usually under bridges, inside caves, on the walls of barns, car ports, underside of barks and places that are safe from rain.
The nest shape and design vary. Black and yellow mud dauber builds a pot shaped nest, the size of a lemon. Organ pipe dauber builds half-inch wide cylindrical tubes resembling pipe- organ pipes. The nest consists of a number of cylindrical cells, each separated by a partition.
Before building a nest, the mother wasp finds a place with moist clay soil. She collects mud with her mouth. Rolls mud into a ball and carries to the nesting spot. There she molds the mud ball with her mandibles. One mud ball against other are smashed every time. The saliva from her mouth acts as a glue. She makes a series of cells with partitions in-between. All the cells are plastered with a final coating of mud, to form a smooth nest.
The mother wasp works hard the whole day from morning till sunset. She rests at nights. She takes unto two days to complete one cell. As she flies close to nest, the buzzing sound she produces comes from the fast beat of her wings. She fans the mud to dry out quickly.
When the nest is nearing completion, the mother wasp goes hunting after spiders. She prefers jumping spiders, catches and paralyses them by her sting. She brings them to the nest. Each cell is filled with five or six spiders. She lays a single egg on the spider bed and seals the cell with mud. After she has completed a series of cells, she leaves the nest for ever.
The egg inside a cell hatches into a larva. The larva has plentiful spider food kept ready by its mother. The larva wastes no time. It feeds and grows. Soon it becomes pupa and undergoes development. The cell serves as a
cocoon.
After nine months, adult wasps emerge out of the nest, making large holes. It is spring time and the adult wasps have plenty of nectar available. It is interesting to see that while the adult wasps are nectar feeders, the larvae are spider eaters!
Sceliphron
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Sceliphron
Scientific classification Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hymenoptera
Superfamily:
Apoidea
Family:
Sphecidae
Subfamily:
Sceliphrinae
Genus:
Sceliphron
Diversity About 30 species
Sceliphron is a genus of
Hymenoptera of the
Sphecidae family, commonly referred to as
mud daubers. They are solitary and build nests made of mud. Nests are frequently constructed in shaded niches, often just inside of windows or vent openings, and it may take a female only a day to construct a cell requiring dozens of trips carrying mud. Females will add new cells one by one to the nest after each cell is provisioned. They provision these nests with
spiders, such as
crab spiders,
orb-weaver spiders and
jumping spiders in particular, as food for the developing
larvae. Each mud cell contains one egg and is provided with several prey items. Females of some species lay a modest average of 15 eggs over their whole lifespan
[1]. Various parasites attack these nests, including several species of
cuckoo wasps, primarily by sneaking into the nest while the resident mud dauber is out foraging.
As is the case with many insect genera, there are many tropical species. Some common temperate species include the
black and yellow mud dauber (
Sceliphron caementarium) and
Sceliphron curvatum.
Like other solitary wasps,
Sceliphron species are not aggressive and do not sting unless mishandled. They are sometimes regarded as beneficial due to their control of spider populations, though the spiders themselves may be beneficial in controlling pest insects. Species such as
Sceliphron curvatum are invasive in some parts of
Europe, where they have been observed to rapidly increase their range in recent years
[2].