Throughout Texas, there is a host of stinging pests and mud daubers are among them. Mud daubers are species of wasps, where the average length ranges from ½ inch to 1 inch. Generally, their body shape is thread-wasted, however, some mud daubers have an especially thin and long, stretched-out body and just between the abdomen and thorax is where the segment is located. Where some species may have a greenish or yellow marking on the body, generally, mud daubers are metallic blue or black. Today, we at A-Tex Pest Management would like to present more basic information concerning the mud daubers.
Mud Dauber Nests
Commonly discovered around sheds, barns, or houses, these types of wasps may cause problems because they like to inhabit furniture voids and continue to damage the outdoor furnishings. By monitoring your home’s foundation, you can better avoid a wasp outbreak on your property. As indicated by their names, mud daubers tend to develop their nests in the mud. While monitoring the home’s foundation ensure the area is well-drained to avoid the mud that attracts their nesting activities.
Are Mud Daubers Aggressive?
Mud daubers are not aggressive and do not defend the nests like hornets or yellow jackets. Though capable, mud daubers do not tend to sting, however, the venom they have is usually used to paralyze prey instead for defensive tactics, leaving anyone stung with mild pain and nothing too serious. In some instances, mud daubers will hunt down black widows, making them somewhat beneficial.
Types of Mud Dauber Pests
For the wasps that brood nests with mud, mud daubers are a common reference. There are several mud daubers species categorized in this group including mud wasps, potter wasps, dirt daubers, and Organ-pipe. Plant nectar and honeydew as well as captured spiders and insect’s bodily fluids are included in their diet. The adults deposit captured prey into the mud nest cells for the larvae to feed on. Before they are placed in the nest, the mud daubers sting their prey where they are only paralyzed and not dead to avoid early decomposing that doesn’t give enough nourishment to the younglings. The nests help identify different groups of mud daubers, as they are solitary insects. Where the nest looks much like a pipe organ, for example, indicates the organ pipe group, and the appears as a group of cells that are cylinder-shaped and covered over with mud.
Mud Dauber Life Cycle
Mud dauber wasps undergo and complete metamorphosis for one or two generations per year, depending on the species. Including the egg, larvae (or grub), pupae (or the cocoon), an adult, there are four life cycles.
Eggs: After adult females finish building a new nest, they will capture insects or spiders and place them in each individual cell where they will then deposit their eggs and seal them up with mud.
Larvae: When the larvae hatch from the eggs the paralyzed prey is left for them to feed upon and then they will morph into the pupal stage to survive the winter.
Pupae: A new generation of mud daubers emerges by the following spring where the cycle continues.
Adults: The males, for most species, will not die after mating like bees do but will stand guard the nest while the female builds and hunts for the larvae and provide protection from flies and other insects attracted to the area.
Stinging Insect Pest Inspections, Control Treatments, Removal & More in Round Rock, Leander, Pflugerville, Cedar Park & Austin Texas
If you have mud daubers on your property, allows the experts of A-Tex Pest Management to eliminate them to spare you the potential damage and overgrowing populations around your home or other structures. Contact us today for all your pest control problems!