Sunday, September 20, 2009

Big Blue Wasp

I almost died from a bee sting once. One stung my ankle while being stirred up by a lawn mower. Soon after, my head began to lighten and I passed out on the lawn. I woke up on my grandmother’s couch with an ice pack on my forehead, and from that day my fear of being stung has remained.

Back home, there is a blue-looking wasp that I cannot identify like the rest of villainous pests that fly around. The other day, I found that same wasp in Plattsburgh while standing on my front porch, so after swatting at it and ducking back inside, I needed to figure out its identity. This particular wasp I actually knew, but I didn’t know I knew it. It’s a mud dauber, a wasp that builds in barns, attics, garages and any other dry and quiet location.

There are three different kinds of mud daubers; the organ pipe mud dauber, the black and yellow mud dauber, and the iridescent blue mud dauber. Since this particular wasp was blue, I’m guessing it’s the third choice, labeled scientifically as Chalybion californicum. They like to build nests made of none other than earthy substances, and will re-use the nests for years if untouched.

Though I dislike them, there are some fascinating and startling facts about these relatively non-aggressive insects. Their biggest threat to humans is not via the stinger, but by their choice of nesting. Some of their favorite spots to nest are inside small tubes in plane engines. The daubers’ presence was confidently named the ultimate cause for the crash of Birgenair Flight 301 in 1996, killing nearly 200 people.

The mud daubers also prey on one of the deadliest creatures in the world; the black widow spider. This insect has the venom to easily paralyze and kill a human, but the mud dauber can attack it, paralyze it with its sting, and harvest the spider to the nest for the larva to feed on.

I hate wasps, bees, or anything else to do with stinging that can hurt me. However, it is comforting to know that these intimidating blue bugs flying around are actually not aggressive, mind their own business in secluded buildings, and kill deadly spiders.

1 comment:

  1. Josh, interesting post. Amazing that it caused a jetliner to crash. I think a sentence of explanation would have been appropriate. Otherwise, nice job.