Mud dauber

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Mud dauber
Sceliphron caementarium MHNT Profil.jpg
Black and yellow mud dauber
Sceliphron caementarium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Superfamily: Apoidea

Some Sphecidae and Crabronidae

Mud dauber (sometimes called "dirt dauber," "dirt digger," "dirt dobber," "dirt diver", or "mud wasp") is a name commonly applied to a number of wasps from either the family Sphecidae or Crabronidae that build their nests from mud. Mud daubers, as they belong to different families, are variable in appearance, but most resemble long, slender wasps about 1-inch (25 mm) in length;.[1] The name refers to the nests that are made by the female wasps, which consist of mud molded into place by the wasp's mandibles. Mud daubers are not normally aggressive, but can become belligerent when threatened. Stings are uncommon.


New organ pipe mud dauber wasp nest showing different muds gathered at different places.



The metallic-blue mud dauber, another sphecid, forgoes building a nest altogether and simply uses the abandoned nests of the other two species and preys primarily on spiders, including black widow spiders.[2] Blue mud daubers frequently appropriate old nests of black-and-yellow mud daubers. They carry water to them and recondition them for their own purposes. The two species commonly occupy the same barns, porches, or other nest sites.








Species Characteristics[edit]


Sceliphron laetum[edit]


Sceliphron formosum[edit]


Involvement in Florida Commuter Airlines accident[edit]

On September 12, 1980, Florida Commuter Airlines flight 65 crashed en route to Freeport, Bahamas killing all 34 passengers and crew. The cause was determined to be due in part to a malfunctioning air speed indicator caused by mud dauber nests that were improperly cleared from the aircraft's pitot tubes.

Involvement in Birgenair Flight 301 accident[edit]

On February 6, 1996, Birgenair Flight 301, a 757 jet flying from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. All 13 crew members and 176 passengers were killed. A key part of the accident was a blocked pitot tube, a component which measures outside air pressure through small tubes on the outside of the aircraft and displays this as the plane's speed. Although the tubes were never recovered from the ocean floor, it was discovered that the plane had been sitting on the tarmac for almost 3 weeks with the pitot tubes not covered as they should have been. Investigators believe a black and yellow mud dauber got into the tube and built its cylindrical nest inside, causing faulty air speed readings that were a large part of the crash.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ a b Milne, Lorus; Milne, Margery (August 2003) [Originally Published October 1st 1980]. Field Guide to Insects & Spiders. New York: Alfred A Knopf, Inc. pp. 844–845. ISBN 0-394-50763-0. 
  2. ^ B. M. Drees & J. Jackman (1999). "Mud Daubers". Field Guide to Texas Insects. Texas A&M University. 
  3. ^ a b "Slender mud-dauber wasps: genus Sceliphron - Western Australian Museum".